Waste Connections, Inc. $WCN Shares Bought by Sands Capital Management LLC

Sands Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,183,194 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 63,112 shares during the quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC owned 0.46% of Waste Connections worth $208,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WCN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Connections by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,585,284 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,552,682,000 after acquiring an additional 717,440 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Waste Connections by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 6,136,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,536,000 after purchasing an additional 918,245 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at about $755,938,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Waste Connections by 3.4% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,995,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $746,054,000 after purchasing an additional 132,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Waste Connections by 1.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,474,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $610,853,000 after purchasing an additional 35,720 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $205.00 price objective on Waste Connections and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price (down from $219.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $202.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target (down from $206.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $203.75.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCN opened at $165.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.65 and a 12 month high of $201.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $168.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.11.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 11.37%.The company had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.57%.

About Waste Connections

Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) is a North American integrated waste services company that provides a range of solid waste and environmental services to municipal, commercial, industrial and residential customers. The company offers collection, transportation, transfer, disposal and recycling services, and operates an extensive network of transfer stations and disposal facilities. Waste Connections positions itself as a provider of infrastructure-driven waste solutions across many regions of the United States and Canada.

The company’s operating activities include routine curbside and commercial collection, roll-off and container services, operation of landfills and transfer stations, and recycling and resource recovery programs.