Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Purchased by State Street Corp

State Street Corp boosted its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,763,491 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 49,773 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned 0.68% of Waste Connections worth $315,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 12.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 852 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 18.4% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the second quarter valued at about $261,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,336 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 19.1% during the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 681 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.3 %

Waste Connections stock traded down $0.65 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $185.14. The company had a trading volume of 668,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 883,801. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.22, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $183.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.84. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.55 and a 12-month high of $194.83.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is an increase 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 was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections's payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $198.87.

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.