Holocene Advisors LP Invests $8.60 Million in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 48,076 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,597,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,103,895 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,423,373,000 after purchasing an additional 178,870 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,313,725 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $950,055,000 after acquiring an additional 30,890 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised 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 worth $417,385,000 after acquiring an additional 142,751 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $401,936,000 after acquiring an additional 309,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 602,055 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN stock traded down $0.55 during 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 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 twelve month low of $137.25 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.47, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.74. The company's 50-day moving average price is $182.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.10.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Waste Connections's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.315 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WCN. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Raymond James cut their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.