Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Sells 29,532 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank reduced its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 17.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 136,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29,532 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $20,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after purchasing an additional 2,835 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,202 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 39.5% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,747 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 3,328 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Waste Connections by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 40,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,661,000 after acquiring an additional 10,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Waste Connections by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 133,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,661,000 after acquiring an additional 7,734 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.0 %

Waste Connections stock opened at $164.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $173.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.65, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of several research reports. Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.87.

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.