Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Sells 3,287 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 86,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,287 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $15,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Waste Connections by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,585,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,552,682,000 after acquiring an additional 717,440 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Waste Connections by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,468,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,134,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,921 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Waste Connections by 17.6% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,136,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,536,000 after acquiring an additional 918,245 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Waste Connections by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,763,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $835,370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Waste Connections by 39.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,455,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $783,218,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264,150 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other news, CEO Ronald J. Mittelstaedt bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $152.24 per share, with a total value of $7,612,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 301,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,826,828.08. This represents a 19.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total transaction of $234,885.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,703.99. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 17,605 shares of company stock valued at $2,822,923 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 price objective (up from $206.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $211.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $212.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.84.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $157.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $39.99 billion, a PE ratio of 38.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $158.01 and its 200-day moving average is $165.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.89 and a 52 week high of $192.72.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors 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 yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.