Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Decreases Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP cut its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 370,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,459 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $63,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Waste Connections by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 5,715,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $856,641,000 after buying an additional 509,929 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,364,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $651,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320,933 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,104,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $612,605,000 after purchasing an additional 280,275 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at about $592,392,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,500,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,418 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded down $0.94 on Friday, reaching $180.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 669,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 868,061. The company has a market capitalization of $46.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.56, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $126.12 and a 52-week high of $182.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $171.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 9.70%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were given a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WCN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $182.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Waste Connections from $196.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total value of $332,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,286. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total value of $332,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,286. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total value of $251,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at $1,341,390.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $752,385 over the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.