4,967 Shares in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Bought by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $828,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1,166.7% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In related news, SVP Robert Michael Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.02, for a total transaction of $480,737.22. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,666 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,119.32. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Patrick James Shea sold 7,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.26, for a total value of $1,171,950.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 19,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,084,103.62. This trade represents a 27.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 14,311 shares of company stock valued at $2,303,997 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on WCN shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $199.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Waste Connections from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.89.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $166.36 on Wednesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.89 and a 1-year high of $185.33. The stock has a market cap of $41.85 billion, a PE ratio of 40.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $167.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.13.

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

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

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

Waste Connections Company 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.