Headlands Technologies LLC Boosts Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 120.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,498,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,902,110,000 after purchasing an additional 88,137 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 5,715,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $856,641,000 after purchasing an additional 509,929 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,364,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $651,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320,933 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,104,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $612,605,000 after purchasing an additional 280,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $592,392,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of WCN opened at $185.68 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $187.54. The company has a market cap of $47.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.72. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.90.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 37.01%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total value of $180,150.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,321 shares in the company, valued at $778,428.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total transaction of $180,150.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $778,428.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $401,925.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,226 shares in the company, valued at $214,243.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WCN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.28.

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.