Virtu Financial LLC Takes $1.59 Million Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 8,872 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,586,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. TCW Group Inc. boosted its position in Waste Connections by 6.7% during the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 722,426 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $129,184,000 after purchasing an additional 45,215 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 58.1% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 657,791 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $117,626,000 after buying an additional 241,707 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,848 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 190,590 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $36,207,000 after buying an additional 19,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 26,243 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,693,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WCN. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Raymond James decreased their price objective 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. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five research 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.88.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE:WCN traded down $4.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $179.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,051,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 889,496. The business's fifty day moving average is $184.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.91. The stock has a market cap of $46.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.62, a PEG ratio of 3.08 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. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.69 and a 1 year high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The company's 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 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections's payout ratio 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.