Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Stock Holdings Increased by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 135,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,561 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $23,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,867,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,764,546,000 after acquiring an additional 620,600 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.8% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 6,501,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,208,669,000 after purchasing an additional 117,939 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 642,426 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter worth $755,938,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.4% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,995,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $746,054,000 after purchasing an additional 132,455 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group set a $205.00 target price on Waste Connections in a report on Monday. National Bankshares dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $211.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $196.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $208.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.44, for a total value of $1,569,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,596,190.52. This represents a 37.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $168.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.66. The company has a market cap of $43.02 billion, a PE ratio of 70.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.63. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.27 and a 12-month high of $201.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 6.65%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 58.33%.

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.