Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys New Shares in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 1,708,241 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $284,440,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. XXEC Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at about $164,870,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 0.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,210,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,983,500,000 after buying an additional 106,763 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,468,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,134,781,000 after buying an additional 1,420,921 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter worth approximately $1,061,947,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,763,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $835,370,000 after buying an additional 1,289,042 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In related news, SVP Robert Michael Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.02, for a total value of $480,737.22. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,119.32. The trade was a 19.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total transaction of $234,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 32,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,703.99. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,311 shares of company stock valued at $2,303,997. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock opened at $166.36 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $167.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.13. The stock has a market cap of $41.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.09, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.48. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.89 and a fifty-two week high of $185.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $199.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.89.

Waste Connections Profile

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.