Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $987,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Group One Trading LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter worth $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.89.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In related news, SVP Robert Michael Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total value of $416,425.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,262.38. This represents a 77.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 14,311 shares of company stock worth $2,303,997 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.2%

WCN opened at $166.19 on Monday. 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 one year low of $146.89 and a one year high of $185.33. The company has a market cap of $41.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.05, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $167.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.05.

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 firm had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 10.86%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Waste Connections 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.