Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management reduced its stake in Waste Connections by 7.6% in Q1, selling 13,297 shares, and now owns approximately 0.06% of the company worth $31.6 million.
• Waste Connections reported $1.29 earnings per share, surpassing analyst expectations, with quarterly revenue of $2.41 billion, marking a 7.1% increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.315, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.7%, with a payout ratio of 50.81%.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,869 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 13,297 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of Waste Connections worth $31,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 9.0% in the first quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 436,673 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $85,102,000 after acquiring an additional 36,005 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 19.9% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,283 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.3% in the first quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 10,542 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,058,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 136.2% in the first quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 41.2% in the first quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 37,052 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,232,000 after acquiring an additional 10,814 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $186.64. 1,129,567 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,421,564. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.36 and a fifty-two week high of $201.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $187.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.08. The stock has a market cap of $48.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on WCN. Melius began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Monday, June 9th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $202.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $213.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $215.00.

Waste Connections Company 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.