Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 75.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,221 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring 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.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the first quarter valued at $43,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.
A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank began coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.56.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on WCN
Shares of WCN stock traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $185.67. The stock had a trading volume of 35,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,652. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $180.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.16. 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 has a market cap of $47.91 billion, a PE ratio of 50.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $129.31 and a one year high of $187.54.
Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) 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. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.315 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections's payout ratio is presently 34.62%.
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.
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