Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 258 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. trimmed its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 258 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its position in Waste Connections by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 1,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 116.2% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.28.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Waste Connections news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $8,706,466.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $401,925.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,226 shares in the company, valued at $214,243.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of WCN stock opened at $179.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $187.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $181.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.29.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted 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 company had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 15.16%. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.02 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 37.01%.

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.