FSA Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 224 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,453,733 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $225,078,000 after buying an additional 1,022,851 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 44.2% in the third 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 buying an additional 602,055 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter worth about $64,176,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 252.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 510,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,477,000 after acquiring an additional 365,487 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Five research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN opened at $192.47 on Monday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.65 and a 1-year high of $194.83. The company has a market cap of $49.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.88, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $182.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.62%.

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.