Granite Group Advisors LLC Sells 244 Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Granite Group Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 17.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 244 shares during the period. Granite Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new position in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the first quarter worth about $43,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Connections in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 3,885.7% during the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 279 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WCN. Eight Capital raised shares of Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.56.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN traded up $2.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $184.11. 24,542 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 882,662. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $47.51 billion, a PE ratio of 49.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.85. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.31 and a 1 year high of $187.54.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.315 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.32%.

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.