Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Buys Shares of 167,906 Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 167,906 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,976,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Group One Trading LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 1,166.7% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 346.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $199.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, VP Patrick James Shea sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president owned 19,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,103.62. The trade was a 27.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total value of $416,425.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,262.38. This represents a 77.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,311 shares of company stock worth $2,303,997. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.3%

Waste Connections stock opened at $166.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.89 and a 1-year high of $185.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.12. The company has a market cap of $41.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.48.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.15. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Waste Connections 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.