Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Shares Sold by Copeland Capital Management LLC

Copeland Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,529 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,237 shares during the quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $15,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Connections news, VP James Little sold 2,605 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.98, for a total transaction of $427,167.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 34,395 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,092.10. The trade was a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Patrick James Shea sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.26, for a total transaction of $1,171,950.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 19,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,084,103.62. This represents a 27.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 17,605 shares of company stock valued at $2,822,923 over the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on WCN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $211.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays set a $180.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $218.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.00.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $172.01 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $159.79 and its 200-day moving average is $163.54. The company has a market cap of $43.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.89 and a 12 month high of $191.91.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 10.97%.The business had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 6th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.15%.

Waste Connections Profile

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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