National Pension Service Sells 264,058 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

National Pension Service lessened its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 41.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 376,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 264,058 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $70,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,247,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,901,049,000 after purchasing an additional 954,242 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 6,501,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,208,669,000 after buying an additional 117,939 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Waste Connections by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,575,547 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $892,023,000 after buying an additional 250,684 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 3.2% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,942,989 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $735,169,000 after acquiring an additional 123,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Waste Connections by 2.7% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,863,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $754,042,000 after acquiring an additional 100,716 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. Citigroup cut their target price on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $196.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. National Bankshares dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $211.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $208.67.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of WCN stock opened at $167.49 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.27 and a 52-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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.83. The company 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 (NYSE:WCN) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.33%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 37.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Connections Company 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.