Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,394 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $10,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $70,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 83.3% during the 2nd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 1st quarter worth approximately $87,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $168.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.94. The company has a market cap of $42.97 billion, a PE ratio of 70.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.27 and a 1-year high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 6.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 5th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total transaction of $1,569,960.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,596,190.52. The trade was a 37.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. National Bankshares lowered their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $211.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Raymond James Financial set a $213.00 target price on Waste Connections and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $186.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $208.32.

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.