King Luther Capital Management Corp Grows Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,141,198 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,860 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned approximately 0.44% of Waste Connections worth $204,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 2.3% during 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 buying an additional 178,870 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in Waste Connections by 6.5% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 44.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 602,055 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $344,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 4.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 71,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $186.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $48.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.24, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72. 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 fifty-two week low of $130.33 and a fifty-two week high of $188.53. The stock's 50-day moving average is $180.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.32.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. 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 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WCN shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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, Raymond James decreased their price target 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. Six investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $195.56.

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.

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