Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Grows Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 44.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,727 shares during the period. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $3,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Waste Connections by 122.0% during the first quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 994.4% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Waste Connections by 89.5% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the second quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total transaction of $1,569,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,883 shares in the company, valued at $2,596,190.52. The trade was a 37.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $165.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.37 and a twelve month high of $201.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $174.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.83. The company has a market cap of $42.31 billion, a PE ratio of 68.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.60.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 6.65%.The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WCN. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Atb Cap Markets upgraded Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $221.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $213.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.63.

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.