Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 8,500.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 0.3% in 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 during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 9.8% in the 4th 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 boosted its stake in shares of 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. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 7.3% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 280,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth approximately $592,392,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $778,428.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of Waste Connections 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,243.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total value of $180,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $778,428.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,011,550 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. CIBC upped their price target 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. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.28.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded down $1.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $181.88. The stock had a trading volume of 558,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 902,003. 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 50-day simple moving average of $176.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.93 billion, a PE ratio of 59.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $183.65.

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 return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

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.