Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Makes New $188,000 Investment in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $188,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Waste Connections by 8.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 90,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,787,000 after acquiring an additional 4,135 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS boosted its position in Waste Connections by 361.7% during the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 5,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 4,250 shares during the period. Finally, Traynor Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Connections by 57.9% in the 2nd quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,355 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $174.66 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $45.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.35 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.43.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 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. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 34.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WCN. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.88.

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.