Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Holdings Decreased by Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co reduced its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,542 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $3,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 81,897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,159 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,308,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Waste Connections by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 84,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,811,000 after buying an additional 1,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 386,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $67,770,000 after buying an additional 23,194 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total transaction of $358,260.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,272.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total transaction of $358,260.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,805,272.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. CIBC raised their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.28.

Waste Connections Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $177.86 on Thursday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $126.12 and a 52-week high of $187.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $45.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $181.88 and its 200-day moving average is $173.25.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.02 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.01%.

About Waste Connections

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.