Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Takes $8.56 Million Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 51,337 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,557,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nicholas Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 449,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,756,000 after buying an additional 109,950 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 669,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $117,394,000 after acquiring an additional 7,866 shares in the last quarter. Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd now owns 56,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,754,000 after acquiring an additional 12,680 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 60,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,546,000 after acquiring an additional 8,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everstar Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter worth $2,100,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $169.81 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.89 and a 1-year high of $188.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $42.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.17.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 10.86%.Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.73%.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other news, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total value of $234,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,703.99. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Robert Michael Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.02, for a total transaction of $480,737.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,119.32. This represents a 19.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 14,311 shares of company stock valued at $2,303,997 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WCN. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $199.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.89.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.