Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Announces $0.32 Quarterly Dividend

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 23rd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.315 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th.

Waste Connections has a payout ratio of 21.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Waste Connections to earn $6.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.9%.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $187.25. The company had a trading volume of 971,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,135,782. Waste Connections has a 52-week low of $169.36 and a 52-week high of $201.66. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $188.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $48.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.60.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 15.87%. Waste Connections's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Waste Connections stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,957 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $577,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WCN shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $212.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $224.00 to $211.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.50.

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.