Insider Selling: Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) SVP Sells $401,925.00 in Stock

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total value of $401,925.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,243.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:WCN opened at $180.30 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $182.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $175.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.69. The company has a market cap of $46.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.07. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lmcg Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.9% in the second quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 84,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,811,000 after buying an additional 1,577 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 6.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 386,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $67,770,000 after buying an additional 23,194 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 8.4% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 30,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,318,000 after buying an additional 2,349 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at $680,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 541,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,978,000 after purchasing an additional 7,378 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.28.

Waste Connections Company 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.