Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Boosts Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,035 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $15,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WCN. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 23,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,185,000 after buying an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 29.1% in the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 26,070 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,869 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 14.4% during the third quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 8.2% during the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Autumn Glory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter valued at about $257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank started coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Eight Capital upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James lowered 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 research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $179.38 on Thursday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.31 and a 52-week high of $187.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $46.29 billion, a PE ratio of 49.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.85.

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

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.32%.

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.