Swiss National Bank Increases Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 765,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.30% of Waste Connections worth $136,948,000 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. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $41,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the first quarter worth $43,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the second quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.1 %

WCN opened at $183.50 on Monday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.33 and a 12 month high of $188.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.41, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $180.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.93.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James cut their target price on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eight Capital raised Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.56.

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.