Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 620,600 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,867,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 620,600 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Waste Connections worth $5,764,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 994.4% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 46.5% during the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 24,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after acquiring an additional 7,705 shares during the period. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 4.1% in the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $917,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at about $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Up 1.8%

WCN opened at $172.28 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $172.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.09. The firm has a market cap of $44.08 billion, a PE ratio of 71.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.60. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.27 and a twelve month high of $201.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 5th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the topic of a number of research reports. National Bankshares cut their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $211.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $208.67.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total transaction of $1,569,960.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,883 shares in the company, valued at $2,596,190.52. The trade was a 37.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.