Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Bought by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,702 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 766 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $13,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 116.2% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Sands Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 76.6% during the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock opened at $182.62 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.33. The company has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.29, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $187.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total transaction of $358,260.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,078 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,272.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,706,466.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WCN. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.28.

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.