Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 40.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,695 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 7,288 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versor Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 75.1% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.0% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 317,220 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $54,565,000 after buying an additional 3,106 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 11.0% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 65,052 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,408,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the first quarter worth $1,319,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded down $0.23 on Friday, reaching $183.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,312,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,310. The company has a market capitalization of $47.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.33 and a 52 week high of $188.30. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $180.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.73.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WCN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of 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. CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Eight Capital upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.