Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 130 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lessened its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 572 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 130 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,103,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,423,373,000 after buying an additional 178,870 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,332,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $417,385,000 after purchasing an additional 142,751 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,303,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $401,936,000 after purchasing an additional 309,619 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,037,000 after purchasing an additional 602,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,733 shares in the last quarter. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eight Capital upgraded Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE:WCN opened at $193.18 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $132.15 and a 12-month high of $194.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.315 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 34.62%.

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.