Bluegrass Capital Partners LP Sells 15,000 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Key Points

• Bluegrass Capital Partners LP reduced its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. by 51.7%, now holding 14,000 shares worth approximately $2.73 million.
• Despite the reduction by Bluegrass, other hedge funds, like Checchi Capital Advisers LLC and Hexagon Capital Partners LLC, increased their stakes during the same period, reflecting varied confidence in the stock.
• Waste Connections reported an earnings per share of $1.29 for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.315 scheduled for August 21st.

Bluegrass Capital Partners LP lowered its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 51.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,000 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 15,000 shares during the period. Waste Connections makes up 2.3% of Bluegrass Capital Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Bluegrass Capital Partners LP's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $2,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Waste Connections by 122.0% in the 1st quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 182 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 994.4% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 890.0% during the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 198 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 232.3% during the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 216 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $187.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 692,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,310,019. The stock's 50-day moving average is $186.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.54 billion, a PE ratio of 75.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $169.36 and a one year high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 given a $0.315 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on Waste Connections in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $224.00 to $211.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Atb Cap Markets upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, CIBC restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $215.00.

About Waste Connections

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.