Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by TimesSquare Capital Management LLC

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 577,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 19,985 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections comprises 1.5% of TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC owned about 0.22% of Waste Connections worth $103,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,498,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,902,110,000 after purchasing an additional 88,137 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Waste Connections by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,103,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,423,373,000 after purchasing an additional 178,870 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 6.5% in the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $417,385,000 after buying an additional 142,751 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 307.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $344,615,000 after buying an additional 1,453,733 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Waste Connections by 4.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,690,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,510,000 after buying an additional 71,681 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WCN shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Eight Capital raised Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $184.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.56, a PEG ratio of 3.00 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. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is a positive change 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 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.