Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Shares Sold by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,748 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $5,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Trust raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 15.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 529 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $171.06 on Tuesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $145.35 and a one year high of $194.83. The company has a market cap of $44.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.99, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $183.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.65.

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 firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 34.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WCN. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of 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. CIBC decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned 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 target price of $199.69.

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.