Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Stock Acquired by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 8.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 927,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,624 shares during the quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $139,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. XXEC Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at $164,870,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter worth $1,061,947,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the second quarter worth $589,671,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the second quarter worth $510,526,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the second quarter worth $477,944,000. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:WCN traded up $2.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $167.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,271,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,761,317. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.41, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.34. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.89 and a 1 year high of $179.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on WCN shares. Scotiabank set a $193.00 target price on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial set a $189.00 price target on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $204.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $184.00 price objective on Waste Connections and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total value of $416,425.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,262.38. The trade was a 77.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,119.32. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Connections Company Profile

Waste Connections, Inc is a North American provider of solid waste collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and construction customers through local operations and provides services under municipal and other contracted arrangements.

Its business includes curbside and commercial waste collection, transfer stations, solid waste landfills, recycling facilities and organics processing. Waste Connections also provides environmental services for energy-producing customers, including the management and disposal of non-hazardous oilfield waste, and operates resource recovery and renewable energy projects in connection with certain waste facilities.

Founded in 1997, Waste Connections serves communities across the United States and Canada.