BNP Paribas Financial Markets Increases Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 113.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,659 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 112,888 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Waste Connections were worth $38,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WCN. American Trust grew its stake in Waste Connections by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Waste Connections by 15.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 529 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Waste Connections by 8.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections by 1.4% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Waste Connections by 6.3% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WCN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 25th. 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, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $193.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $182.04 and a 200 day moving average of $178.32. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.15 and a 52-week high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.34 billion during 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%. Waste Connections’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.62%.

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.