Headlands Technologies LLC Sells 16,236 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC has sold 16,236 shares of Waste Connections, Inc., reducing its holdings by 51.9%, leaving it with 15,053 shares valued at approximately $2.94 million.
• Other institutional investors, such as Vanguard Group and GAMMA Investing LLC, have made notable increases in their positions in Waste Connections, indicating a strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Waste Connections reported earnings of $1.29 per share, beating analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.315, with a yield of 0.7%.

Headlands Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 51.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,053 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 16,236 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $2,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,247,244 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,901,049,000 after purchasing an additional 954,242 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 19,519.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918,564 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $179,295,000 after buying an additional 913,882 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,949,152 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,020,672,000 after buying an additional 899,058 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 239.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 647,727 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $115,558,000 after buying an additional 457,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 62.8% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 962,850 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $165,206,000 after acquiring an additional 371,600 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE WCN opened at $187.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.54 billion, a PE ratio of 75.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.58. The business's 50-day moving average price is $186.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.36 and a 12 month high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Waste Connections's payout ratio is presently 50.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on WCN. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $202.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Melius started coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $215.00.

Waste Connections Profile

Waste Connections, Inc provides non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal, and resource recovery services in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services to residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and exploration and production (E&P) customers; landfill disposal services; and recycling services for various recyclable materials, including compost, cardboard, mixed paper, plastic containers, glass bottles, and ferrous and aluminum metals.

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