Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Bought by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 8,500.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,498,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,902,110,000 after purchasing an additional 88,137 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 5,715,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $856,641,000 after acquiring an additional 509,929 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,364,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $651,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320,933 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,104,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $612,605,000 after acquiring an additional 280,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth approximately $592,392,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $169,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,321 shares in the company, valued at $899,249. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Waste Connections news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $2,902,215.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $169,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $899,249. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,011,550 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE WCN traded down $1.14 on Friday, reaching $181.88. The stock had a trading volume of 558,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 902,003. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $176.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.64. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $183.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.28.

Waste Connections Profile

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.