Swedbank AB Grows Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 40.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,806 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,774 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $7,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 116.2% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 3,885.7% in the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 279 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.1 %

WCN stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $182.60. The stock had a trading volume of 365,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 884,097. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $182.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.65. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $126.12 and a 52-week high of $187.54. The firm has a market cap of $47.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.02 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on WCN shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $194.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,706,466.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Waste Connections news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan Netherton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.13, for a total value of $358,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,272.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,550 over the last ninety days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Waste Connections

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.