Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Shares Sold by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC decreased its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,337 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Calamos Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,055,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Waste Connections by 3.3% during 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 during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the second quarter worth about $63,385,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 84.2% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,281,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total value of $1,569,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,883 shares in the company, valued at $2,596,190.52. This represents a 37.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $167.37 on Wednesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $163.27 and a one year high of $201.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $173.10 and its 200-day moving average is $183.04. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.60.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during 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%. Waste Connections’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WCN shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Atb Cap Markets raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. CIBC reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $210.63.

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.