Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported C$1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.38 by C$0.02, reports. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 10.30% and a net margin of 9.51%. The company had revenue of C$2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$2.78 billion.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at C$225.65 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of C$228.61 and a 200 day moving average price of C$205.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 91.42. The firm has a market cap of C$58.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.99, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections has a 12 month low of C$174.74 and a 12 month high of C$234.79.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrea Elisabeth Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$169.17, for a total value of C$152,589.90. In other Waste Connections news, Senior Officer Robert Michael Cloninger sold 3,746 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$170.21, for a total transaction of C$637,613.03. Also, Director Andrea Elisabeth 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 C$169.17, for a total value of C$152,589.90. Insiders sold a total of 18,026 shares of company stock worth $3,043,157 over the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Waste Connections from C$169.00 to C$182.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Atb Cap Markets cut Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, ATB Capital cut Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from C$200.00 to C$235.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$192.10.

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.