Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported C$1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.38 by C$0.02, reports. The company had revenue of C$2.79 billion during 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 %

Shares of TSE WCN opened at C$225.65 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is C$228.61 and its 200-day moving average price is C$205.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 91.42. The stock has a market capitalization of C$58.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections has a 12-month low of C$174.74 and a 12-month high of C$234.79.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. 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 currently 38.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Matthew Stephen Black sold 4,128 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$167.34, for a total value of C$690,760.94. In related news, Senior Officer Matthew Stephen Black sold 4,128 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were 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 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$169.17, for a total transaction of C$152,589.90. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,026 shares of company stock worth $3,043,157. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WCN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. ATB Capital cut shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from C$200.00 to C$235.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from C$169.00 to C$182.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$192.10.

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.