William Blair Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 339,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $63,385,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 122.0% during the 1st quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 994.4% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 232.3% during the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 216 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 64 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 issued reports on WCN. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $221.00 to $219.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. National Bankshares lowered their price target on Waste Connections from $211.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial set a $213.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets upgraded Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $210.38.

Waste Connections Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:WCN opened at $172.68 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.36 and a 12-month high of $201.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.87.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 6.97%.The business had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 50.81%.

Waste Connections 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.