National Pension Service Increases Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

National Pension Service increased its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 410,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 31,393 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $68,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 2.6% in the third quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 407 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total value of $416,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 734 shares in the company, valued at $122,262.38. This trade represents a 77.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.02, for a total transaction of $480,737.22. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,119.32. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $159.74 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $146.89 and a one year high of $179.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $167.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.19 billion, a PE ratio of 38.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.48.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.15. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 10.86%.The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.73%.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections, Inc is an integrated solid waste services company that provides collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services across the United States and Canada. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills and recycling facilities.

Its services include curbside and containerized waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, landfill disposal, and the management of non-hazardous oilfield waste.