Skye Global Management LP Sells 36,000 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Skye Global Management LP decreased its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 604,000 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 36,000 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections comprises about 2.6% of Skye Global Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Skye Global Management LP owned 0.23% of Waste Connections worth $108,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake 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 valued at $1,423,373,000 after acquiring an additional 178,870 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased 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 valued at $950,055,000 after acquiring an additional 30,890 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased 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 valued at $417,385,000 after acquiring an additional 142,751 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased 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 valued at $401,936,000 after acquiring an additional 309,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased 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 valued at $351,037,000 after acquiring an additional 602,055 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WCN. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE WCN traded down $0.47 on Friday, reaching $192.72. The company had a trading volume of 584,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 887,199. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.73 billion, a PE ratio of 52.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.65 and a 1 year high of $194.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $182.04 and a 200-day moving average of $178.32. 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 (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. Waste Connections's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a positive change from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

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.