2Xideas AG Raises Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

2Xideas AG grew its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,234 shares during the period. Waste Connections accounts for 1.2% of 2Xideas AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. 2Xideas AG’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $7,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 4,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 595,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $116,005,000 after buying an additional 12,647 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 113.5% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 139,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,094,000 after buying an additional 73,913 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 24.9% during the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $785,000 after buying an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,281,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,563,000 after buying an additional 31,805 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on WCN shares. National Bankshares reduced their price objective on Waste Connections from $211.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $221.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $202.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $208.32.

Waste Connections Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $170.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.27 and a 52 week high of $201.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $172.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.33%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total transaction of $1,569,960.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,596,190.52. The trade was a 37.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Company Profile

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.