Baird Financial Group Inc. Acquires 111,517 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 575,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 111,517 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $107,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the second quarter worth $51,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the second quarter valued at about $70,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Waste Connections by 83.3% during the second quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 396 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the first quarter worth about $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group set a $195.00 target price on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $202.00 target price for the company. Barclays reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.32.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total transaction of $1,569,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,596,190.52. This trade represents a 37.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $174.11 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $44.55 billion, a PE ratio of 72.55, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.27 and a 12-month high of $201.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.81.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.06. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 6.65%.The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 58.33%.

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.