309,885 Shares in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Bought by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 309,885 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $54,800,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned approximately 0.12% of Waste Connections as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1,167.4% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 473,422 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $83,020,000 after buying an additional 436,067 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 438.5% in the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 535,471 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $92,106,000 after purchasing an additional 436,041 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,176,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 252.5% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 510,243 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $89,477,000 after purchasing an additional 365,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Waste Connections by 4,567.2% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 253,567 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $44,466,000 after purchasing an additional 248,134 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total value of $180,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,321 shares in the company, valued at $778,428.15. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WCN. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eight Capital upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $178.78. 655,858 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 878,577. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.83. The company has a market cap of $46.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.12, a PEG ratio of 2.95 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 52 week low of $129.31 and a 52 week high of $187.54.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.32%.

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.