The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 244,122 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,669,392 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 244,122 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $477,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections by 42.2% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,455 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 48.1% in the first quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 7,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Waste Connections by 1.0% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 317,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,565,000 after acquiring an additional 3,106 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 7.7% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 102,373 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,609,000 after purchasing an additional 34,678 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $192.84 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $181.22 and its 200-day moving average is $177.92. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.15 and a 1 year high of $193.06. The company has a market capitalization of $49.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. 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. Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.56.

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.