Barclays PLC Purchases 77,466 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 77,466 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $54,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Waste Connections by 58.0% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WCN shares. Eight Capital raised Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.81.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

NYSE WCN opened at $184.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.62, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.69 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.88.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

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.