Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 394,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 38,824 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.15% of Waste Connections worth $69,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Calamos Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,055,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Waste Connections by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 136,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,539,000 after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,798,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at $63,385,000. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 55.0% in the third quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 66,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,739,000 after acquiring an additional 23,682 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WCN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. CIBC set a $208.00 target price on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $221.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Waste Connections from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $207.05.

Waste Connections Trading Down 1.7%

Waste Connections stock opened at $164.22 on Wednesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.06 and a 12 month high of $201.66. The stock has a market cap of $41.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $172.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for 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%.Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

About Waste Connections

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.