Candriam S.C.A. Trims Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 158,674 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 47,011 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned 0.06% of Waste Connections worth $29,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 122.0% in the 1st quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 994.4% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the second quarter worth $51,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the second quarter worth $70,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 83.3% during the second quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Connections news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total transaction of $1,569,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,596,190.52. The trade was a 37.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. Barclays reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $221.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.67.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.8%

WCN stock opened at $167.49 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $172.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.79, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.60. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.27 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 5th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.33%.

Waste Connections Profile

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.