Moore Capital Management LP Makes New $7.47 Million Investment in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Moore Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 44,825 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,472,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in Waste Connections by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 11,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,969,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter worth approximately $277,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter valued at approximately $62,905,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 7.9% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,367,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,919,000 after purchasing an additional 100,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Waste Connections by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 42,086 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other news, SVP Robert Michael Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,666 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,119.32. This represents a 19.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Patrick James Shea sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.26, for a total transaction of $1,171,950.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 19,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,103.62. This represents a 27.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,311 shares of company stock worth $2,303,997. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.2%

Waste Connections stock opened at $166.19 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.05, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.89 and a fifty-two week high of $185.33.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WCN. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $199.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.89.

About Waste Connections

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.