Northern Trust Corp Boosts Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Waste Connections by 7.2%, owning 896,243 shares worth approximately $175 million following the purchase of an additional 60,533 shares during the first quarter.
• Waste Connections reported $1.29 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.25, with revenues of $2.41 billion, up 7.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.315 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.7% with a payout ratio of 50.81%.

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 7.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 896,243 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 60,533 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.35% of Waste Connections worth $174,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter worth about $623,155,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,247,244 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,901,049,000 after acquiring an additional 954,242 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 19,519.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918,564 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $179,295,000 after acquiring an additional 913,882 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,413,615 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $470,524,000 after acquiring an additional 413,190 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in 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 valued at $165,206,000 after acquiring an additional 371,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN traded down $1.7840 during trading on Friday, reaching $184.6960. 805,770 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,055,936. 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 12-month low of $169.36 and a 12-month high of $201.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.57. The company has a market cap of $47.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.47, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.58.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The business had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th were issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $202.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. CIBC restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Melius started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $197.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Connections to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus 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.