Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Purchased by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 6.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 722,426 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 45,215 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections comprises 1.1% of TCW Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. TCW Group Inc. owned about 0.28% of Waste Connections worth $129,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Waste Connections by 2.3% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 178,870 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised 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 buying an additional 30,890 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $478,777,000 after purchasing an additional 699,012 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp boosted 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 worth $417,385,000 after acquiring an additional 142,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 15.5% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $401,936,000 after purchasing an additional 309,619 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. CIBC upped their price target on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $198.87.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded down $0.91 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $184.88. 985,962 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 885,393. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.55 and a 12 month high of $194.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $183.78 and a 200-day moving average of $179.84.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.315 dividend. This is a boost 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 of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.