Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) Reaches New 1-Year High at $242.51

Waste Connections, Inc. (TSE:WCN)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$242.51 and last traded at C$242.28, with a volume of 167952 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$239.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, ATB Capital lifted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from C$235.00 to C$240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$193.10.

Waste Connections Trading Down 0.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 104.12, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of C$62.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average price is C$230.01 and its 200 day moving average price is C$221.37.

Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported C$1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.38 by C$0.02. The firm had revenue of C$2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$2.78 billion. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 9.70%. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 8.888 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were given a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. This is an increase from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is 37.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Robert Andres Nielsen sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$166.00, for a total value of C$332,000.00. In other news, Director Michael W. Harlan sold 1,500 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$167.59, for a total value of C$251,387.85. Also, Senior Officer Robert Andres Nielsen sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$166.00, for a total transaction of C$332,000.00. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $752,388. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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.