Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Lowers Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,222,350 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 250,897 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 2.41% of Waste Connections worth $1,070,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 116.2% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the first quarter worth about $53,000. Sands Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on WCN. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.00.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $175.66. 1,140,068 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 931,511. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $45.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $182.99.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.02 EPS. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.01%.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total value of $332,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,286. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Waste Connections news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total transaction of $251,385.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,341,390.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total value of $332,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,286. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $752,385 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Waste Connections

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.