EULAV Asset Management Has $104.64 Million Stake in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

EULAV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 22.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 585,188 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 107,825 shares during the quarter. Waste Connections makes up about 2.5% of EULAV Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. EULAV Asset Management owned about 0.23% of Waste Connections worth $104,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the first quarter worth about $231,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 94.7% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 3,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Natixis bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the first quarter worth approximately $360,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Waste Connections during the first quarter worth approximately $266,000. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 130,632 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,470,000 after buying an additional 1,667 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WCN opened at $187.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $180.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.26. Waste Connections, Inc. has a one year low of $130.33 and a one year high of $188.30. The firm has a market cap of $48.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on WCN shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 target price for the company. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.