Short Interest in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Decreases By 25.5%

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, a decline of 25.5% from the October 15th total of 1,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 821,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Waste Connections Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:WCN traded down $3.77 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $183.73. 807,094 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 884,358. The company’s 50 day moving average is $180.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.55. Waste Connections has a twelve month low of $130.33 and a twelve month high of $188.30. 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 company has a market capitalization of $47.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections 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 will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 34.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WCN. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Six 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at $150,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 142,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,562,000 after buying an additional 25,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 1st quarter valued at $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

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.