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. The company also owns and operates transfer stations that receive compact and/or load waste to be transported to landfills or treatment facilities through truck, rail, or barge; and intermodal services for the rail haul movement of cargo and solid waste containers in the Pacific Northwest through a network of intermodal facilities. In addition, it provides E&P waste treatment, recovery, and disposal services for waste resulting from oil and natural gas exploration and production activity, such as drilling fluids, drill cuttings, completion fluids, and flowback water; production wastes and produced water during a well's operating life; contaminated soils that require treatment during site reclamation; and substances, which require clean-up after a spill, reserve pit clean-up, or pipeline rupture. Further, the company offers leasing services to its customers. As of December 31, 2021, it owned 334 solid waste collection operations; 142 transfer stations; 61 municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills; 12 E&P waste landfills; 14 non-MSW landfills; 71 recycling operations; 4 intermodal operations; 23 E&P liquid waste injection wells; and 19 E&P waste treatment and oil recovery facilities. The company also operates an additional 53 transfer stations, 10 MSW landfills, and 2 intermodal operations. Waste Connections, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in Woodbridge, Canada.
Waste Connections Trading Up 1.4 %
Shares of WCN opened at $143.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Waste Connections has a 1-year low of $113.50 and a 1-year high of $145.62. The stock has a market cap of $36.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $129.54.
Waste Connections Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 18th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Waste Connections's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.85%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research analysts have commented on WCN shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $146.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 4th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 5th. Atb Cap Markets upgraded Waste Connections from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 4th. Oppenheimer set a $135.00 price target on Waste Connections in a report on Tuesday, July 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $147.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Connections has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $148.25.
Insider Activity
In related news, Director William J. Razzouk sold 4,073 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.03, for a total value of $570,342.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,016 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $562,360.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.