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 paid a dividend of 0.315 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29.

Waste Connections has increased its dividend by an average of 11.4% annually over the last three years. Waste Connections has a dividend payout ratio of 20.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Waste Connections to earn $5.46 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.14 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.9%.

Waste Connections Price Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $178.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $46.08 billion, a PE ratio of 57.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $182.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.05. Waste Connections has a 12 month low of $126.12 and a 12 month high of $187.54.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Analysts predict that Waste Connections will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank began coverage on Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen increased 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $194.19.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at $8,706,466.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $2,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,706,466.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total transaction of $180,150.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $778,428.15. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,550. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.