Bridgewater Associates LP Purchases New Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,073 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,265,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its position in Waste Connections by 3,885.7% in the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 279 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded down $1.64 on Monday, hitting $190.83. The company had a trading volume of 787,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,783. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $182.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.25 and a 1 year high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is an increase from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. 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. Raymond James dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.56.

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.