Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 3,977,490 Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 3,977,490 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $697,519,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.6% during the third quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 919 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. RDA Financial Network increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 2,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 4.3% during the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $205.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Waste Connections from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $218.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $211.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $203.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Mittelstaedt purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $152.24 per share, for a total transaction of $7,612,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 301,017 shares in the company, valued at $45,826,828.08. This trade represents a 19.92% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP James Little sold 2,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.98, for a total value of $427,167.90. Following the sale, the vice president owned 34,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,640,092.10. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.1%

Waste Connections stock opened at $149.13 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.29. The company has a market cap of $38.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.51. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.84 and a 52-week high of $197.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 10.97%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 34.15%.

Waste Connections Company Profile

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.