Traynor Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Traynor Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at about $602,107,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 20.5% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,516,908,000 after buying an additional 1,920,302 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 12.8% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,218,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,378,788,000 after buying an additional 1,157,470 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 35.0% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,436,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,336,000 after buying an additional 631,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,490,958 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $197,642,000 after buying an additional 609,251 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $172.01. 473,751 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 788,088. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.12 and a 1 year high of $173.02. The company has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.11, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.68.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.03. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WCN. UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $169.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.82.

About Waste Connections

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.