Insider Selling: Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) CAO Sells $186,770.00 in Stock

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) CAO Derek Tan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.77, for a total transaction of $186,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,455.08. This represents a 71.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Waste Connections Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $183.93 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $163.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $46.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.49, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.49. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.89 and a 52 week high of $188.20.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a net margin of 11.40% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.60 billion. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.70 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.3850 per share. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 5th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 4.1% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 12.3% during the third quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,808 shares during the last quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at $109,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at $84,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at $283,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial set a $189.00 target price on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Waste Connections from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target (up from $193.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $207.00 price objective (up from $184.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.22.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections, Inc is a North American provider of solid waste collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and construction customers, offering scheduled and on-demand collection as well as waste management solutions tailored to municipalities and businesses.

Its operations include local collection fleets, transfer stations, recycling and resource-recovery facilities, and landfills. Waste Connections also provides non-hazardous oilfield waste services, including the collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste generated by energy-production activities.

Founded in 1997, Waste Connections has grown through a combination of internal development and acquisitions.