Concentric Capital Strategies LP Raises Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Concentric Capital Strategies LP increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 192.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,646 shares during the quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $5,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at $1,157,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth approximately $1,998,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 432.6% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,022,851 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 67.4% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 129,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,091,000 after purchasing an additional 51,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $192.47 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $182.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.68. Waste Connections, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.65 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83. The firm has a market cap of $49.67 billion, a PE ratio of 52.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WCN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eight Capital raised Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank began coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.56.

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.