Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Sets New 52-Week High at $173.03

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $173.03 and last traded at $172.75, with a volume of 20765 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WCN shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Connections from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $146.50 to $179.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $175.82.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $44.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $163.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $147.68.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 14.42%. Waste Connections's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the company'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 value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,410,846 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,240,887,000 after buying an additional 356,695 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 20.5% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,294,922 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,516,908,000 after buying an additional 1,920,302 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 12.8% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,218,545 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,378,788,000 after buying an additional 1,157,470 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,473,247 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $966,263,000 after buying an additional 1,071,269 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 5,715,923 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $856,641,000 after buying an additional 509,929 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% 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.