Waste Connections, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.29 (NYSE:WCN)

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be given a dividend of 0.285 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 7th.

Waste Connections has raised its dividend by an average of 11.4% annually over the last three years. Waste Connections has a payout ratio of 20.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Waste Connections to earn $5.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.14 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.6%.

Waste Connections Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded up $1.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $177.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 907,550. Waste Connections has a twelve month low of $126.12 and a twelve month high of $182.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $173.83 and a 200-day moving average of $167.97. The stock has a market cap of $45.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. Waste Connections’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $181.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In related news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total transaction of $332,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,321 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,286. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.00, for a total transaction of $332,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,049,286. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,800 shares of company stock valued at $3,654,600. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.