Walter Public Investments Inc. Has $429,000 Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Walter Public Investments Inc. lowered its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 25.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Trust boosted its position in Waste Connections by 3.7% during the second quarter. American Trust now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its position in Waste Connections by 3.9% during the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 1,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 15.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 529 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 8.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 1.4% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Scotiabank started coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Eight Capital raised Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at $8,706,466.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total value of $401,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,243.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $181.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $182.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.60. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $126.12 and a 52-week high of $187.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.01%.

Waste Connections Company 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.