Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.32 on November 14th

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of 0.315 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29.

Waste Connections has increased its dividend by an average of 11.4% per year over the last three years. Waste Connections has a payout ratio of 23.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Waste Connections to earn $5.43 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 23.2%.

Waste Connections Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Waste Connections stock opened at $177.64 on Tuesday. Waste Connections has a 12-month low of $129.31 and a 12-month high of $187.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $181.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.80, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Waste Connections will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total transaction of $180,150.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $778,428.15. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.56.

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.