Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 18.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,159 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,501 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WCN. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its position in Waste Connections by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 1,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Traynor Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Waste Connections by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 116.2% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $169,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $899,249. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Waste Connections news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total value of $251,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,341,390.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $169,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,321 shares in the company, valued at $899,249. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock worth $752,385 in the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.3 %

WCN stock opened at $178.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $168.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $126.12 and a 52-week high of $179.45.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th 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 was Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WCN. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price on the stock. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.69.

Waste Connections Company 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.