Bamco Inc. NY Takes $32.33 Million Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 193,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,325,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 407 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $167.32 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.12. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.89 and a 1 year high of $185.33. The company has a market capitalization of $42.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 33.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Michael Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.02, for a total value of $480,737.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,119.32. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total transaction of $416,425.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $122,262.38. This represents a 77.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 14,311 shares of company stock valued at $2,303,997 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Waste Connections from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.89.

Waste Connections Profile

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.