Pathstone Holdings LLC Raises Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,420 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $8,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Waste Connections by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 3,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Natixis acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the first quarter worth approximately $360,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at about $266,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Waste Connections by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 488,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $84,094,000 after purchasing an additional 127,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 1st quarter worth $1,319,000. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $189.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.40. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.67 and a fifty-two week high of $189.48. The stock has a market cap of $48.78 billion, a PE ratio of 51.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 0.67%. 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%.

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.