Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) Announces Earnings Results

Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported C$1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.38 by C$0.02, reports. The firm had revenue of C$2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$2.78 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 10.30%.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.9 %

WCN stock opened at C$223.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of C$57.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50 day moving average is C$228.55 and its 200 day moving average is C$206.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 91.42. Waste Connections has a 1-year low of C$174.74 and a 1-year high of C$234.79.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

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 $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 38.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Matthew Stephen Black sold 4,128 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$167.34, for a total transaction of C$690,760.94. In related news, Senior Officer Matthew Stephen Black sold 4,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$167.34, for a total value of C$690,760.94. Also, Director Andrea Elisabeth Bertone sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 valued at $3,043,157 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WCN. ATB Capital boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from C$235.00 to C$240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Connections from C$169.00 to C$182.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets cut Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$193.10.

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.