Corient Private Wealth LP Sells 29,128 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth reduced its Waste Connections position by 43.7% in the second quarter, selling 29,128 shares and retaining 37,574 shares valued at approximately $6.26 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.09% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with Waste Connections holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $202.42; UBS upgraded the stock to “buy” with a $200 target.
• Waste Connections exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.50 in EPS and $2.56 billion in revenue, up 6.4% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, equivalent to a 0.9% yield.

Corient Private Wealth LP lowered its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 43.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,574 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 29,128 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $6,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,210,661 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,983,500,000 after acquiring an additional 106,763 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,468,259 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,134,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,921 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,061,947,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,763,742 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $835,370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289,042 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $697,519,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total value of $416,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $122,262.38. This trade represents a 77.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were 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 represents a 19.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WCN. UBS Group upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $176.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday. Citigroup increased their target price on 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 restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $199.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Tuesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $204.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.42.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $155.41 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $166.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $162.68. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.89 and a 12-month high of $179.74. The firm has a market cap of $39.10 billion, a PE ratio of 37.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.48. 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 (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business 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, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. Waste Connections's payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Waste Connections Profile

Waste Connections, Inc is an integrated solid waste services company that provides collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services across the United States and Canada. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills and recycling facilities.

Its services include curbside and containerized waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, landfill disposal, and the management of non-hazardous oilfield waste.

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