Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) Reaches New 12-Month High at $248.58

Waste Connections, Inc. (TSE:WCN) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$248.58 and last traded at C$248.14, with a volume of 21154 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$246.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, ATB Capital raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from C$235.00 to C$240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$193.10.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of C$233.66 and a 200-day moving average of C$224.63. The company has a market cap of C$64.40 billion, a PE ratio of 60.74, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 104.12.

Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. 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. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of C$2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$2.78 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 8.888 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were given a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Senior Officer Robert Andres Nielsen sold 1,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$169.00, for a total transaction of C$169,000.00. In other news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$167.59, for a total transaction of C$251,387.85. Also, Senior Officer Robert Andres Nielsen sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$169.00, for a total transaction of C$169,000.00. Insiders have sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $752,388 in the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.