Perpetual Ltd Purchases 9,632 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 69,888 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,632 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $11,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter worth $36,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 58.0% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the third quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.2 %

WCN opened at $178.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a PE ratio of 49.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $181.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.85. Waste Connections, Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.51 and a twelve month high of $194.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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 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 boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James cut 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Five investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.