Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Posts Earnings Results

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 14.42%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded down $1.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $164.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 774,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 902,410. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $173.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.46, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $168.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is presently 38.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Atb Cap Markets cut Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group lowered Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Waste Connections in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.