Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 EPS.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded down $1.23 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $164.95. 752,327 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 902,172. The company has a 50 day moving average of $168.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.83. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $173.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $42.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Five investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.87.

Waste Connections Company 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.