Hilltop Holdings Inc. Takes $330,000 Position in Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Waste Connections by 64.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 15,759 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,711,000 after buying an additional 6,198 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in Waste Connections by 12.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Waste Connections by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,164,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waste Connections by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in Waste Connections in the 2nd quarter valued at about $261,000. 86.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.0 %

WCN stock opened at $190.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.74. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $183.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.18. Waste Connections, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.25 and a 12 month high of $194.83.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on WCN shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.40.

About Waste Connections

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.