Explore Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN

Explore Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 39,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,856,000. Waste Connections makes up 4.2% of Explore Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,585,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,552,682,000 after buying an additional 717,440 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Waste Connections by 14.0% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 5,217,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $975,190,000 after acquiring an additional 642,426 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter worth about $755,938,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,995,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $746,054,000 after acquiring an additional 132,455 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,474,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $610,853,000 after acquiring an additional 35,720 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WCN. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $183.00 target price (down previously from $196.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $202.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 target price on Waste Connections and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank set a $197.00 price target on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down previously from $219.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $203.75.

Waste Connections Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $163.53 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.67. The company has a market capitalization of $41.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.65 and a 12-month high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Waste Connections had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.25%. The business had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 33.57%.

Waste Connections 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.