Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Purchased by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,144 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 25,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,459,000 after buying an additional 4,105 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,169,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,036,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $349,483,000 after buying an additional 109,701 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1,412.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 73,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,105,000 after buying an additional 68,584 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.00.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $187.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $48.45 billion, a PE ratio of 78.55, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $179.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.34 and a twelve month high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.92%. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.72%.

Waste Connections Profile

Waste Connections, Inc provides non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal, and resource recovery services in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services to residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and exploration and production (E&P) customers; landfill disposal services; and recycling services for various recyclable materials, including compost, cardboard, mixed paper, plastic containers, glass bottles, and ferrous and aluminum metals.