Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Raises Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lifted its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 44.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,727 shares during the period. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $3,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the second quarter worth about $51,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 89.5% during the 1st 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, Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at about $70,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $196.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, National Bankshares decreased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $211.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.63.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total value of $1,569,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,883 shares in the company, valued at $2,596,190.52. The trade was a 37.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:WCN opened at $165.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $174.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.83. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.37 and a 1-year high of $201.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.86, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.60.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 5th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.33%.

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.