Aigen Investment Management LP Takes $448,000 Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 758 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Waste Connections by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 73,632 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,889,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381 shares during the period. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.7% in the third quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 27,078 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 963 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, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total value of $251,385.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,341,390.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total transaction of $251,385.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,341,390.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total value of $332,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,049,286. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WCN. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.94.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of WCN stock opened at $164.92 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $167.17 and a 200-day moving average of $156.14. The stock has a market cap of $42.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $126.12 and a 52-week high of $173.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

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.