Quadrature Capital Ltd Has $48.09 Million Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 139.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 268,700 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 156,700 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections makes up 1.1% of Quadrature Capital Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Quadrature Capital Ltd owned 0.10% of Waste Connections worth $48,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 18.0% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,922 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,238,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 137.2% during the 3rd quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 10,200 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,824,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Waste Connections by 828.8% during the 3rd quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 45,204 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,083,000 after acquiring an additional 40,337 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 9.3% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 19,895 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Finally, Harvey Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 17.4% during the third quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 252,500 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $45,152,000 after purchasing an additional 37,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $198.40.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $190.54. 387,011 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 884,253. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.25 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The firm has a market cap of $49.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.74. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $182.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. This is a boost from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections's payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Waste Connections Company 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.