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

M&T Bank Corp lowered its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 7.6% during the third 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 period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $5,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP raised its holdings in Waste Connections by 75.1% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter worth $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter worth $2,503,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 65.6% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 11.0% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 65,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,408,000 after buying an additional 6,432 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Five 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.81.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.3 %

Waste Connections stock opened at $184.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.62, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $183.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.88. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.69 and a twelve month high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 34.62%.

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.