Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN – Free Report) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,078 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $7,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the first quarter worth about $577,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 219,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,946,000 after buying an additional 24,948 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 24,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,572,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,714,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Waste Connections by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,808,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,708,000 after buying an additional 17,197 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have recently commented on WCN. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $211.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $199.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.05.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Waste Connections news, SVP Eric Hansen sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.82, for a total value of $988,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,200,347. This represents a 31.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total transaction of $234,885.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,703.99. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,605 shares of company stock valued at $2,822,923. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.
Waste Connections Price Performance
Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $169.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.85, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.49. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.89 and a 12 month high of $191.91. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.69.
Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.15. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.
Waste Connections Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 33.73%.
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.
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