Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 19,496 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 11.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 190,590 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,496 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Waste Connections worth $36,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $344,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,733 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Waste Connections by 432.6% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,259,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,078,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,851 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Waste Connections by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,678,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $478,777,000 after acquiring an additional 699,012 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,037,000 after acquiring an additional 602,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 199.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 591,250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,727,000 after acquiring an additional 393,763 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $172.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $44.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $183.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.71. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.35 and a 1 year high of $194.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research 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 disclosed 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 was Thursday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 34.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. CIBC decreased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.69.

About Waste Connections

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.