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

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WCN traded down $1.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $165.16. 923,292 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 903,952. 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 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $173.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.83. The firm has a market cap of $42.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Connections Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. Atb Cap Markets downgraded Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group downgraded Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.