Cumberland Partners Ltd Acquires 1,600 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $4,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Waste Connections by 6.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 144,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,899,000 after buying an additional 8,505 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections during the first quarter worth about $150,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Waste Connections by 3.7% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,992,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP grew its position in Waste Connections by 262.3% during the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 8,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,464,000 after buying an additional 6,164 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James reduced 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.7 %

WCN traded up $1.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $186.75. 56,084 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 882,433. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $180.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.31 and a 52 week high of $187.54.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. Waste Connections’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. 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.