Fred Alger Management LLC Has $13.28 Million Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Fred Alger Management LLC lessened its position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,816 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $13,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 307.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,927,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $344,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,733 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Waste Connections by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,037,000 after acquiring an additional 602,055 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $64,176,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Waste Connections by 252.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 510,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $89,477,000 after acquiring an additional 365,487 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections during the third quarter valued at $54,800,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN opened at $192.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $182.31 and a 200 day moving average of $178.50. The company has a market capitalization of $49.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.88, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.65 and a 12 month high of $194.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank started coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.