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

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

Waste Connections has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 7 consecutive years. Waste Connections has a payout ratio of 20.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 %

Waste Connections stock traded down $1.00 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $165.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,608,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 913,201. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $168.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Waste Connections has a 52-week low of $126.12 and a 52-week high of $173.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.80, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 9.51%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total value of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WCN. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.87.

Waste Connections Company Profile

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.