Entropy Technologies LP Purchases Shares of 56,433 Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 56,433 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,167,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at approximately $577,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 219,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,946,000 after purchasing an additional 24,948 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 24,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,572,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,714,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,808,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,708,000 after purchasing an additional 17,197 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Connections news, CEO Ronald J. Mittelstaedt purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $152.24 per share, for a total transaction of $7,612,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 301,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,826,828.08. This trade represents a 19.92% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total transaction of $234,885.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 32,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,703.99. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 17,605 shares of company stock worth $2,822,923 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WCN. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $218.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Waste Connections from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays set a $180.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $199.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.05.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $169.52 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.85, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $146.89 and a one year high of $191.91.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 10.86%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.73%.

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.