XXEC Inc. Acquires Shares of 26,376,590 Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

XXEC Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 26,376,590 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $164,870,000. Waste Connections makes up about 0.1% of XXEC Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. XXEC Inc. owned about 0.10% of Waste Connections as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 1,166.7% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 346.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $169.81 on Friday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.89 and a 52 week high of $188.09. The firm has a market cap of $42.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 33.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.57, for a total transaction of $416,425.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 734 shares in the company, valued at $122,262.38. This trade represents a 77.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jason Craft sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.59, for a total value of $234,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,703.99. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 14,311 shares of company stock worth $2,303,997 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WCN. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.89.

Waste Connections Company Profile

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.