Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 564,335 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 22,500 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.22% of Waste Connections worth $100,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $344,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,733 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,037,000 after acquiring an additional 602,055 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,176,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Waste Connections by 252.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 510,243 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $89,477,000 after buying an additional 365,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,800,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.
A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $195.56.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on WCN
WCN opened at $193.25 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.15 and a 12 month high of $194.24.
Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.34 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This is a boost from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections's payout ratio is currently 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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