Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. Has $12.11 Million Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,593 shares during the period. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $12,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 75.1% in the 3rd 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 bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,503,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,190,000 after buying an additional 77,466 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 65.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. CIBC lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target 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. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE WCN opened at $177.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.80. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.35 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The company has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.74, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.76.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.62%.

Waste Connections Company 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.