Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Wolverine Trading LLC

Wolverine Trading LLC lessened its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 80.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,213 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,122 shares during the period. Wolverine Trading LLC's holdings in Waste Connections were worth $215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP raised its position in Waste Connections by 75.1% in the 3rd 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at about $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $2,503,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 6.5% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $417,385,000 after buying an additional 142,751 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded down $1.87 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $178.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,409,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 891,969. The company has a market cap of $45.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.35 and a 12-month high of $194.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.39.

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 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 firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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 year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WCN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James lowered 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 research report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eight Capital raised shares of Waste Connections to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.