Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Shares Sold by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 3.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 282,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,264 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $45,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at about $577,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 24,948 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,714,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 17,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $199.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted 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, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 price objective (up from $206.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 24th. Two 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.42.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other news, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total transaction of $234,885.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,861 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,703.99. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Patrick James Shea sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.26, for a total value of $1,171,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 19,737 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,103.62. This trade represents a 27.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 11,811 shares of company stock worth $1,887,572 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Down 3.6%

NYSE WCN opened at $166.59 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.89 and a 12 month high of $191.00. The company has a market capitalization of $42.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.14, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.15. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 10.86%.The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 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.