Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Sets New 52-Week High at $179.45

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $179.45 and last traded at $179.45, with a volume of 440363 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $178.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WCN. Oppenheimer upped their price target 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 increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 18th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.69.

Waste Connections Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $46.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were paid a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 37.01%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Connections

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $592,392,000. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Waste Connections by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 374,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,858,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 591.5% during the first quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 8,452 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 114.2% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 9,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 4,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Waste Connections by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 220,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,895,000 after purchasing an additional 74,995 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

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.