Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $123.29 Million Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 703,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 134,302 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $123,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,585,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,552,682,000 after buying an additional 717,440 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,468,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,134,781,000 after buying an additional 1,420,921 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,136,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,536,000 after buying an additional 918,245 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,763,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $835,370,000 after buying an additional 1,289,042 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,455,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,218,000 after buying an additional 1,264,150 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 target price (up from $206.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $199.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $218.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Waste Connections from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.84.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:WCN opened at $154.76 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.26 billion, a PE ratio of 37.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $157.46 and its 200 day moving average is $164.94. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.89 and a 12 month high of $191.91.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.97% and a return on equity of 16.49%. Waste Connections’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 34.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Patrick James Shea sold 7,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 19,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,103.62. The trade was a 27.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP James Little sold 2,605 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.98, for a total transaction of $427,167.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 34,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,640,092.10. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 17,605 shares of company stock worth $2,822,923 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.