Insider Selling: Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Director Sells $1,569,960.00 in Stock

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Director Edward Guillet sold 9,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were 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 owned 14,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,596,190.52. This represents a 37.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Waste Connections Stock Down 1.9%

WCN stock opened at $167.66 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.47 and a 52 week high of $201.66. The company has a market capitalization of $42.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $175.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. Waste Connections’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 58.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on WCN. CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 25th. National Bankshares dropped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $211.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $210.63.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Calamos Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the second quarter worth approximately $2,055,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.3% in the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 136,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,539,000 after acquiring an additional 4,340 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 37.3% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 89.5% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter worth approximately $63,385,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Waste Connections

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.