Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Sells 18,219 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Key Points

• MUFG Securities Canada reduced its Waste Connections stake by 4.8%, selling 18,219 shares and retaining 361,031 shares worth approximately $60.1 million. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $200.89, above the reported share price of $165.28.
• Waste Connections exceeded quarterly expectations with $1.50 in earnings per share and $2.56 billion in revenue, while paying a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, equivalent to a 0.8% yield.

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 4.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 361,031 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 18,219 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections makes up about 1.6% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. owned about 0.14% of Waste Connections worth $60,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth $26,000. Group One Trading LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 346.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $176.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 note on Monday, July 13th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $199.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.89.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $165.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $41.58 billion, a PE ratio of 39.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $167.97 and a 200 day moving average of $163.01. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.89 and a 52 week high of $185.33. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business 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 earned $1.29 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. Waste Connections's payout ratio is presently 33.73%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total transaction of $234,885.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 32,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,703.99. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Michael Cloninger sold 2,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.02, for a total value of $480,737.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,995,119.32. This represents a 19.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,311 shares of company stock valued at $2,303,997. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

About Waste Connections

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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