SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 7.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 574 shares during the quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 116.2% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Waste Connections during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Sands Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 76.6% during the fourth quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Waste Connections news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total transaction of $401,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,243.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $2,902,215.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,550 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE WCN traded down $2.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $182.62. 1,192,791 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 884,394. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $47.12 billion, a PE ratio of 59.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.33. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.12 and a 52 week high of $187.54.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a $0.285 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 37.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WCN shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $189.00 price target for the company. CIBC increased their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Five research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.28.

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.