SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Stock Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 33.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 126,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,897 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Waste Connections were worth $21,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WCN. Versor Investments LP grew its position in Waste Connections by 75.1% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Connections during the third quarter worth about $552,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Waste Connections in the third quarter valued at $2,503,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Waste Connections by 34.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 303,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,190,000 after acquiring an additional 77,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Waste Connections by 65.6% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. 86.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on WCN shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

Waste Connections Price Performance

NYSE:WCN opened at $178.44 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $180.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.87. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $151.32 and a 12-month high of $194.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.76. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

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.