Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.76% and a net margin of 9.70%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $165.18 on Friday. Waste Connections has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $173.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $168.31 and its 200 day moving average is $151.92. The company has a market cap of $42.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.63, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 37.01%.

Insider Activity at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WCN. Atb Cap Markets cut Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Scotiabank increased their price target on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.87.

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.