FORA Capital LLC Buys 2,381 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

FORA Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 49.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,197 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,381 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $1,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. American Trust grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 3.7% during the second quarter. American Trust now owns 1,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 15.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 529 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 8.8% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 1.4% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 6.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $193.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.07, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $181.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.21. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.15 and a 1-year high of $194.83. 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 (NYSE:WCN) last released its 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. 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 quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. 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.