Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Makes New Investment in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Key Points

• Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec acquired 167,906 Waste Connections shares worth approximately $28.0 million, representing about 0.07% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 86.09% of WCN.
• Waste Connections beat quarterly expectations with $1.50 EPS and $2.56 billion in revenue, up 6.4% year over year. The company also paid a $0.35 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 0.8% annualized yield.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $200.89, above the reported share price of $166.19.

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 167,906 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $27,976,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owned approximately 0.07% of Waste Connections at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Group One Trading LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter worth $30,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 346.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1,166.7% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.3%

WCN stock opened at $166.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.89 and a twelve month high of $185.33. The company has a market cap of $41.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.05, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $167.73 and a 200-day moving average of $163.12.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.51 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 10.86%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $199.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $200.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other news, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total transaction of $234,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 32,861 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,703.99. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Robert Michael Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the business'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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,995,119.32. This trade represents a 19.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 14,311 shares of company stock worth $2,303,997 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.

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