Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 602,055 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 44.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 602,055 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections makes up 1.7% of Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.76% of Waste Connections worth $351,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versor Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 75.1% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,470,000 after buying an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Waste Connections by 1.0% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 317,220 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $54,565,000 after acquiring an additional 3,106 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 65,052 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,408,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at about $1,319,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank started coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, CIBC upped their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:WCN traded down $0.97 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $186.53. 861,089 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 887,625. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $130.33 and a one year high of $188.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.26.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This is a boost from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

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.