Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Stake Lowered by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lowered its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 14.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,048 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,472 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $9,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 75.1% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Waste Connections by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 317,220 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $54,565,000 after purchasing an additional 3,106 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 65,052 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,408,000 after purchasing an additional 6,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in Waste Connections by 6.5% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $417,385,000 after purchasing an additional 142,751 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.2 %

Waste Connections stock traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $193.20. The stock had a trading volume of 597,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 888,170. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $181.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.92. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.15 and a 12 month high of $194.25. The stock has a market cap of $49.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. Research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is 34.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Five equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $195.56.

Waste Connections Company Profile

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.