Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Announces Earnings Results

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Waste Connections stock traded down $1.00 during trading on Thursday, reaching $165.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,608,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 913,201. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $168.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.62 billion, a PE ratio of 55.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Connections has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $173.02.

Waste Connections Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.285 per share. 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's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WCN shares. UBS Group cut Waste Connections from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $178.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Connections news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.