Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) is EULAV Asset Management’s 8th Largest Position

EULAV Asset Management increased its stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 585,188 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 107,825 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections makes up about 2.5% of EULAV Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. EULAV Asset Management’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $104,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WCN. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the first quarter worth about $231,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in Waste Connections by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 3,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Natixis bought a new position in Waste Connections during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $360,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 1st quarter worth approximately $266,000. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 130,632 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN opened at $187.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.39 billion, a PE ratio of 51.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $180.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.26. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.33 and a 52-week high of $188.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. 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 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James lowered their price objective on 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. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Eight Capital raised shares of Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued 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 an average price target of $195.56.

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.