Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Trims Stock Holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lowered its position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 354,606 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,098 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned about 0.14% of Waste Connections worth $63,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WCN. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Eight Capital upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James cut their price target on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Five research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.56.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of WCN opened at $189.87 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.74. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.15 and a 1 year high of $190.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 34.62%.

Waste Connections 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.