National Pension Service Acquires 75,119 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 15.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 567,453 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,119 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $101,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings 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 period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,986,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 58,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,988,000 after acquiring an additional 8,632 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 317,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,565,000 after acquiring an additional 3,106 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 65,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,408,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total value of $180,150.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $778,428.15. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WCN shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Eight Capital upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.56.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.4 %

WCN opened at $177.64 on Tuesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.31 and a twelve month high of $187.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $181.14 and a 200-day moving average of $175.73. The stock has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a PE ratio of 48.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. Waste Connections’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.32%.

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.