Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 51,810 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 19.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 320,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,810 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $52,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter worth approximately $577,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Waste Connections by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 219,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,946,000 after acquiring an additional 24,948 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 24,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,572,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,714,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,808,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,708,000 after purchasing an additional 17,197 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, CEO Ronald J. Mittelstaedt acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $152.24 per share, with a total value of $7,612,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 301,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,826,828.08. The trade was a 19.92% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total value of $234,885.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,861 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,703.99. This trade represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 17,605 shares of company stock worth $2,822,923 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Waste Connections from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $199.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday. Barclays set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 target price (up from $206.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Waste Connections from $210.00 to $195.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.05.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock opened at $169.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $42.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.85, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $161.36 and a 200 day moving average of $163.28. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.89 and a 1 year high of $191.91.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.15. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid 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 is Thursday, August 6th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.73%.

Waste Connections Company 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.