Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Invests $2.46 Million in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 14,712 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,459,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nicholas Company Inc. raised its stake in Waste Connections by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 449,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,756,000 after purchasing an additional 109,950 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 669,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $117,394,000 after buying an additional 7,866 shares during the last quarter. Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd now owns 56,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,754,000 after buying an additional 12,680 shares in the last quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,100,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at about $12,398,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WCN. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $199.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $176.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert Michael Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.02, for a total value of $480,737.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,666 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,119.32. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,311 shares of company stock valued at $2,303,997. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock opened at $166.19 on Monday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.89 and a 12 month high of $185.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $167.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.05. The stock has a market cap of $41.81 billion, a PE ratio of 40.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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

About Waste Connections

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.