Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 541,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,378 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Waste Connections worth $94,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.9% during the first 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. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Waste Connections by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 116.2% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WCN. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $2,902,215.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,706,466.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Waste Connections news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $401,925.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,243.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of WCN stock opened at $181.41 on Wednesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $187.54. The company has a market cap of $46.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.90, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.21.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.07. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 37.01%.

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.