Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 180 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 180 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WCN. Norges Bank bought a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $592,392,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Waste Connections by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,364,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $651,427,000 after buying an additional 1,320,933 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 235.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,153,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $172,240,000 after buying an additional 809,914 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 113.0% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,188,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $177,438,000 after buying an additional 630,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 5,715,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $856,641,000 after acquiring an additional 509,929 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock opened at $185.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $181.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.93. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $126.12 and a one year high of $187.54. The company has a market capitalization of $47.91 billion, a PE ratio of 60.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total transaction of $180,150.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $778,428.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total value of $180,150.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,321 shares in the company, valued at $778,428.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.28.

About Waste Connections

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.