Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Purchased by Values First Advisors Inc.

Values First Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 6.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the quarter. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Waste Connections by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 144,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,899,000 after purchasing an additional 8,505 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $592,392,000. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 374,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,858,000 after buying an additional 11,600 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 591.5% during the first quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,700,000 after acquiring an additional 8,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sycomore Asset Management grew its stake in Waste Connections by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 37,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,646,000 after acquiring an additional 11,110 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,706,466.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Waste Connections news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 4,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $778,428.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,600 shares of company stock worth $4,011,550 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE WCN traded down $1.14 on Friday, hitting $181.88. The company had a trading volume of 558,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 902,003. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.05, a PEG 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. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $183.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $176.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.73.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WCN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, CIBC upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.28.

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.