Versor Investments LP Raises Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Versor Investments LP raised its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 75.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,221 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,527 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Trust lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 529 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 12.5% in the 2nd 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. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WCN has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $205.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WCN traded up $1.32 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $185.36. 802,843 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 886,224. The stock's 50-day moving average is $180.75 and its 200-day moving average is $176.16. The company has a market cap of $47.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.31 and a fifty-two week high of $187.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This is an increase from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections's payout ratio is 34.62%.

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.