Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 11.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 190,590 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,496 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $36,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Trust raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 15.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 529 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.4% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 58.0% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 6.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Eight Capital raised shares of Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Raymond James dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.69.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $172.70 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $145.35 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $183.27 and a 200 day moving average of $180.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.45, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 34.62%.

About Waste Connections

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.