California State Teachers Retirement System Raises Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 317,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,106 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.12% of Waste Connections worth $54,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 48.1% during the first quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 7,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 42.2% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 51.9% in the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 710,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 242,948 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 438.5% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 535,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $92,106,000 after acquiring an additional 436,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,319,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WCN shares. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 18th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.28.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $169,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $899,249. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.59, for a total transaction of $251,385.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,004 shares in the company, valued at $1,341,390.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $169,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,321 shares in the company, valued at $899,249. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $752,385 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE WCN traded up $0.72 on Thursday, reaching $178.49. 29,011 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 902,854. The firm has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $173.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.38. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $182.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

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.