NewEdge Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 7,503 Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,503 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,251,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1,166.7% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 346.2% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $169.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.89 and a 1 year high of $188.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.17. The firm has a market cap of $42.72 billion, a PE ratio of 40.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.48.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.15. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 10.86%.The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.73%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,145,703.99. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total transaction of $416,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,262.38. The trade was a 77.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,311 shares of company stock valued at $2,303,997. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 price target (up from $206.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 24th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating and set a $199.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $218.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.