Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 292,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,332 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Waste Connections worth $52,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the 1st quarter worth about $231,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,498,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,902,110,000 after buying an additional 88,137 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 1,408.7% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 128,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,083,000 after acquiring an additional 119,905 shares in the last quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Waste Connections by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 81,349 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,992,000 after acquiring an additional 5,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $183.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.41, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.33 and a 12 month high of $188.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $180.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.60. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WCN. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.56.

Waste Connections 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.