Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded down $1.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $165.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 923,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 903,952. The company has a market capitalization of $42.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.46, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $173.02. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.83.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Connections from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group cut Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.87.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.