11,258 Shares in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Acquired by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,258 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,998,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WCN. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted 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 valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WCN. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $190.99. The stock had a trading volume of 771,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,435. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $182.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.10. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.25 and a 12-month high of $194.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $49.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. 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. Waste Connections's payout ratio is 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.