Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Shares Bought by PGGM Investments

PGGM Investments grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 66.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 423,659 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 169,504 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Waste Connections were worth $74,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 919 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 2,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $205.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $218.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Waste Connections from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.35.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $155.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.84 and a 1 year high of $198.00. The company has a market capitalization of $39.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $160.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.70.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 10.97%.The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 34.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eric Hansen sold 6,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.82, for a total transaction of $988,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,350 shares in the company, valued at $2,200,347. The trade was a 31.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ronald J. Mittelstaedt bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $152.24 per share, with a total value of $7,612,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 301,017 shares in the company, valued at $45,826,828.08. This trade represents a 19.92% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.