Dakota Wealth Management Cuts Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Dakota Wealth Management trimmed its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 97 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Waste Connections by 6.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 144,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,899,000 after purchasing an additional 8,505 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at $592,392,000. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Waste Connections by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 374,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,858,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 591.5% during the first quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 8,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sycomore Asset Management lifted its position in Waste Connections by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 37,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,646,000 after purchasing an additional 11,110 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WCN. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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, July 26th. Oppenheimer raised 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.28.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $182.48. The company had a trading volume of 295,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 895,580. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $177.19 and a 200-day moving average of $170.01. The company has a market capitalization of $47.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.32, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $183.65.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 37.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at $8,706,466.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total value of $358,260.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,078 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,272.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at $8,706,466.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,600 shares of company stock worth $4,011,550. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.