Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Waste Connections, Inc. (TSE:WCN) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$260.96 and last traded at C$260.16, with a volume of 56826 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$258.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WCN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Eight Capital set a C$270.00 price objective on shares of Waste Connections and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank upgraded Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, ATB Capital increased their price objective on Waste Connections from C$255.00 to C$260.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$205.10.

Waste Connections Stock Up 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 100.60, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$247.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$240.81. The stock has a market capitalization of C$67.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.426 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Connections news, Senior Officer Robert Andres Nielsen sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$181.75, for a total transaction of C$90,875.00. In related news, Senior Officer Robert Andres Nielsen sold 500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$181.75, for a total value of C$90,875.00. Also, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$249.52, for a total value of C$1,996,164.00. Insiders sold a total of 9,071 shares of company stock worth $2,231,091 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.