Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Shares Sold by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Waste Connections by 57.5%, selling over 1 million shares during the first quarter, and now holds approximately 0.29% of the company valued at $159.7 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 86.09% of Waste Connections, with several firms, including DAVENPORT & Co LLC and Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc., increasing their holdings significantly in the latest quarter.
• Waste Connections has received various analyst ratings upgrades and downgrades, with a consensus price target of $215.00, and is positioned with five analysts rating it a Strong Buy.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 57.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 750,665 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,016,057 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.29% of Waste Connections worth $159,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,796 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 89.5% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 288 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,069 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 41.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 19,710 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,843,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 331,088 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $63,841,000 after purchasing an additional 30,136 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WCN shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $221.00 to $219.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Scotiabank boosted their price target 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. Finally, Atb Cap Markets raised shares of Waste Connections from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.00.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $184.6960 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.36 and a 1 year high of $201.66. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $185.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.57. The company has a market capitalization of $47.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 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 (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Waste Connections has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share 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 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 was Wednesday, August 6th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.81%.

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.

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