Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) Reaches New 1-Year High at $234.79

Waste Connections, Inc. (TSE:WCN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as C$234.79 and last traded at C$232.79, with a volume of 46051 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$233.02.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WCN shares. ATB Capital downgraded shares of Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from C$200.00 to C$235.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Atb Cap Markets lowered Waste Connections from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Waste Connections from C$141.00 to C$146.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Connections from C$169.00 to C$182.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on Waste Connections from C$156.00 to C$167.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$192.10.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 91.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$220.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$199.91. The firm has a market capitalization of C$60.01 billion, a PE ratio of 58.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported C$1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.47 by C$0.04. The firm had revenue of C$2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$2.76 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 10.30%. Analysts forecast that Waste Connections, Inc. will post 8.8651858 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.383 dividend. This represents a $1.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Waste Connections’s payout ratio is currently 38.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Matthew Stephen Black sold 4,128 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$167.34, for a total value of C$690,760.94. In other Waste Connections news, Senior Officer Matthew Stephen Black sold 4,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$167.34, for a total value of C$690,760.94. Also, Director Andrea Elisabeth Bertone sold 902 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$169.17, for a total transaction of C$152,589.90. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,026 shares of company stock worth $3,043,157. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Connections Company Profile

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.