Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) COO Sells $234,885.00 in Stock

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total transaction of $234,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 32,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,703.99. This trade represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Waste Connections Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of WCN stock opened at $155.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $157.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.22. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.89 and a fifty-two week high of $192.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.97% and a return on equity of 16.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 34.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WCN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at $697,519,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,468,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,134,781,000 after buying an additional 1,420,921 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,763,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $835,370,000 after buying an additional 1,289,042 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,455,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,218,000 after buying an additional 1,264,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 48.7% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,724,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $604,573,000 after buying an additional 1,219,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WCN shares. Scotiabank set a $197.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $218.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $205.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $199.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.84.

Waste Connections Company Profile

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.