Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 341,717 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,079 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections accounts for about 2.3% of Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $61,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 144,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,899,000 after acquiring an additional 8,505 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 58,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,988,000 after buying an additional 8,632 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 317,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,565,000 after buying an additional 3,106 shares during the last quarter. 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. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 167.8% in the first quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 45,373 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,805,000 after acquiring an additional 28,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Six investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $181.90 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $180.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.85. The company has a market cap of $46.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.31 and a 12 month high of $187.54.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 31.32%.

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.