Perpetual Ltd Has $11.99 Million Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,888 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,632 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $11,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Addenda Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Connections by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 208,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,856,000 after purchasing an additional 17,545 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the fourth quarter worth about $353,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 15,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,612,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Trium Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 4th quarter valued at $743,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the fourth quarter worth about $316,000. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Waste Connections stock opened at $178.45 on Tuesday. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $146.51 and a one year high of $194.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $181.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.03, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.76.

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 net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WCN. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $192.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

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.