Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Position Boosted by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 963.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 169,681 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 153,729 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.07% of Waste Connections worth $29,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 116.2% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the first quarter worth about $43,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3,885.7% in the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 279 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other news, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Waste Connections news, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total value of $358,260.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,805,272.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $778,428.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $178.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $46.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $181.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.68. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $187.54.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.07. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 37.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WCN shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Raymond James upped their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Five investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.