Values First Advisors Inc. Purchases 463 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the quarter. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 1.3% in the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 677,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $118,756,000 after purchasing an additional 8,590 shares during the last quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 65,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,408,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Waste Connections by 8,500.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 2,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Waste Connections by 4,567.2% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 253,567 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,466,000 after purchasing an additional 248,134 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $169,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $899,249. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $169,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,321 shares in the company, valued at $899,249. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,600 shares of company stock valued at $4,011,550 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded down $1.14 on Friday, hitting $181.88. 558,722 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 902,003. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $176.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.73. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $183.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced 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. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a $0.285 dividend. 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 0.63%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

Waste Connections 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.