Eagle Asset Management Inc. Sells 261,824 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 22.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 916,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 261,824 shares during the period. Waste Connections makes up approximately 0.9% of Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $168,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 564,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $100,983,000 after buying an additional 22,500 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 554,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,121,000 after purchasing an additional 8,549 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 577,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $103,340,000 after purchasing an additional 63,794 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,141,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $204,069,000 after purchasing an additional 6,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EULAV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 585,188 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $104,643,000 after purchasing an additional 107,825 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WCN shares. Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:WCN opened at $189.01 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $180.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.40. 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 cap of $48.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.67 and a twelve month high of $189.48.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 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.