Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Covea Finance

Covea Finance lowered its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,211 shares during the quarter. Covea Finance’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $7,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Tranquility Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 4,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.5% in the first quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% in the first quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA now owns 14,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Waste Connections by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its stake in Waste Connections by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.02% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $142.68. The stock had a trading volume of 25,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 878,810. The company has a market cap of $36.76 billion, a PE ratio of 43.75, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.23 and a fifty-two week high of $146.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.82.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.01% and a net margin of 10.93%. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 16th were issued a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 15th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WCN. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Waste Connections from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $152.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com began coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Sunday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $164.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP James Little sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.97, for a total value of $441,504.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 26,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,616,193.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.