West Family Investments Inc. Increases Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

West Family Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $942,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Connections during the second quarter worth approximately $755,938,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the first quarter worth approximately $623,155,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,247,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,901,049,000 after buying an additional 954,242 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 195.0% in the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,153,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $224,961,000 after buying an additional 762,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at $140,935,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $176.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $45.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $172.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.17. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.27 and a 1-year high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 58.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial set a $213.00 target price on Waste Connections and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Waste Connections from $221.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $208.32.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total value of $1,569,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,596,190.52. This trade represents a 37.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections 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.