Fred Alger Management LLC Purchases 679 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $14,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its holdings 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 valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 8.8% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.4% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 116.2% during the first 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. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In related news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total value of $180,150.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $778,428.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total transaction of $180,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,321 shares in the company, valued at $778,428.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total value of $401,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,243.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,550 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WCN. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.28.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $180.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.60, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $181.80 and a 200 day moving average of $173.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $187.54.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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

Waste Connections 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.