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

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.285 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th.

Waste Connections has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 7 years. Waste Connections has a dividend payout ratio of 20.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Waste Connections to earn $5.51 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 20.7%.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.6 %

WCN traded down $1.00 during trading on Thursday, hitting $165.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,618,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 913,201. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $168.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.83. The company has a market capitalization of $42.62 billion, a PE 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 one year low of $126.12 and a one year high of $173.02.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Waste Connections in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.87.

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.