154,204 Shares in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Acquired by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 154,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $25,704,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1,166.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $176.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $218.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Waste Connections from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.89.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $169.81 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.92, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.48. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.89 and a 12 month high of $188.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released 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 firm 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 firm earned $1.29 EPS. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total transaction of $416,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,262.38. This represents a 77.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total value of $234,885.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,703.99. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 14,311 shares of company stock worth $2,303,997 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.