Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Purchased by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 529 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $95,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased 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 worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Eight Capital raised Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James raised their target price on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total value of $401,925.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,226 shares in the company, valued at $214,243.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock worth $3,842,550. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $182.16 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $181.90 and a 200 day moving average of $174.47. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.12 and a 12 month high of $187.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 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.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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