Waste Connections, Inc. (TSE:WCN) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (TSE:WCN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$196.10.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WCN shares. Scotiabank raised Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. ATB Capital lifted their price target on Waste Connections from C$240.00 to C$255.00 in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Eight Capital set a C$270.00 target price on Waste Connections and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Waste Connections Price Performance

WCN traded up C$2.94 on Wednesday, reaching C$248.41. The company had a trading volume of 68,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 237,275. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$247.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$237.74. The company has a market cap of C$64.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 100.60, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.70. Waste Connections has a 52-week low of C$174.74 and a 52-week high of C$253.95.

Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported C$1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.61 by C$0.09. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 11.14%. The firm had revenue of C$3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$3.03 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 9.9808652 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Connections

In other news, Senior Officer Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$178.05, for a total value of C$2,902,254.12. In related news, Senior Officer Robert Andres Nielsen sold 571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$252.28, for a total transaction of C$144,051.88. Also, Senior Officer Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$178.05, for a total value of C$2,902,254.12. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,671 shares of company stock valued at $6,073,683. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.