Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.29

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be given a dividend of 0.285 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th.

Waste Connections has increased its dividend by an average of 11.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 7 years. Waste Connections has a payout ratio of 20.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Waste Connections to earn $5.44 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 21.0%.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN stock opened at $164.18 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of $126.12 and a 52 week high of $173.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $167.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.18.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Waste Connections’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Waste Connections from $195.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $136.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. UBS Group lowered Waste Connections from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $181.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given 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 “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.33.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other news, Director Andrea E. Bertone sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.17, for a total transaction of $152,591.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.