Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 4,078 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,078 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $7,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 64 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in Waste Connections by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WCN. Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $211.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $218.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $199.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.05.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of WCN stock opened at $169.52 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $161.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.28. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.89 and a 1-year high of $191.91. The company has a market cap of $42.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 10.86%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 33.73%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, VP James Little sold 2,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.98, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 7.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Patrick James Shea sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.26, for a total transaction of $1,171,950.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 19,737 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,103.62. The trade was a 27.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 17,605 shares of company stock worth $2,822,923 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.