Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Middleton & Co. Inc. MA

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lessened its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 10.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $2,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 116.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections during the second quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 3,885.7% during the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 279 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of WCN stock opened at $177.86 on Thursday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $187.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.25. The firm has a market cap of $45.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.75, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.285 per share. 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.