Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Stake Trimmed by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 7.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,369 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,748 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $5,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Versor Investments LP increased its stake in Waste Connections by 75.1% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,503,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Waste Connections by 65.6% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 11.0% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 65,052 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,408,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares during the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded down $4.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $179.91. 2,051,332 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 889,496. 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 firm has a market cap of $46.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $184.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.91. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.69 and a twelve month high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. Waste Connections's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Eight Capital raised Waste Connections to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.88.

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.