Insider Selling: Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) CFO Sells $2,902,215.00 in Stock

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,706,466.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $179.49 on Monday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $182.99. The stock has a market cap of $46.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $173.83 and its 200-day moving average is $167.97.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Five research 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.28.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,189,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $384,268,000 after acquiring an additional 15,623 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 47,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,243,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 289.9% during the 2nd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 4,694 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 3,490 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,123,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $196,916,000 after acquiring an additional 98,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 207,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,472,000 after acquiring an additional 1,831 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

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.