AQR Capital Management LLC Has $10.18 Million Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,073 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 901 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $10,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 3,885.7% in the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 279 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total value of $180,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $778,428.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Waste Connections news, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total transaction of $358,260.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,805,272.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total value of $180,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $778,428.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,550 in the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $177.54 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $181.49 and its 200-day moving average is $173.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $45.81 billion, a PE ratio of 57.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.12 and a 12-month high of $187.54.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.07. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 37.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $188.65.

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.