Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Holdings Decreased by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 916,939 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 261,824 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections makes up approximately 0.9% of Eagle Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned 0.36% of Waste Connections worth $168,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 2.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,103,895 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,423,373,000 after purchasing an additional 178,870 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $417,385,000 after buying an additional 142,751 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,037,000 after buying an additional 602,055 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $344,615,000 after buying an additional 1,453,733 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,690,733 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $296,510,000 after buying an additional 71,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.5 %

WCN traded up $0.91 on Friday, reaching $189.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 277,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 884,289. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.15 and a 1 year high of $190.78. The business's 50 day moving average is $180.99 and its 200 day moving average is $177.40. The stock has a market cap of $49.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during 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 prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. This is an increase from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections's payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upped 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. Oppenheimer increased 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $195.56.

Waste Connections 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.