Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Bought by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 405,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,268 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Waste Connections were worth $71,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 7,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,381,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.3% in the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 677,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $118,756,000 after buying an additional 8,590 shares in the last quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 65,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,408,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 8,500.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $2,902,215.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at $8,706,466.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Waste Connections news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,706,466.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total transaction of $358,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,078 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,272.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,600 shares of company stock worth $4,011,550 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.28.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE WCN traded down $1.14 on Friday, reaching $181.88. 558,722 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 902,003. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $176.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $183.65.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.07. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.01%.

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.