Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Raises Dividend to $0.32 Per Share

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. 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% per year over the last three 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 $5.46 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 traded down $0.99 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $180.36. 1,099,145 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 880,777. Waste Connections has a fifty-two week low of $126.12 and a fifty-two week high of $187.54. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $182.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.01. The company has a market cap of $46.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total value 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction 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 approximately $8,706,466.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert Nielsen III sold 1,000 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.15, for a total transaction of $180,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,321 shares in the company, valued at $778,428.15. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,550 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WCN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James raised their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $195.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.19.

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.