Patrick James Shea Sells 7,500 Shares of Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Stock

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) VP Patrick James Shea sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.26, for a total transaction of $1,171,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 19,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,103.62. This represents a 27.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $159.25 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $157.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $40.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.51. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.89 and a twelve month high of $192.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.97% and a return on equity of 16.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at about $697,519,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,468,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,134,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,921 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,763,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $835,370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289,042 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 39.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,455,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,218,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 48.7% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,724,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $604,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,056 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $212.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays set a $180.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $199.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.84.

Waste Connections Company Profile

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.