Waste Connections, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.32 (NYSE:WCN)

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of 0.315 per share by the business services provider on Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%.

Waste Connections has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.5% annually over the last three years. Waste Connections has a payout ratio of 21.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Waste Connections to earn $5.37 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.5%.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of WCN traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $189.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,188,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 931,384. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.91 billion, a PE ratio of 52.07, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Waste Connections has a 12 month low of $153.07 and a 12 month high of $194.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $179.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.43.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04). Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. Analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WCN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Waste Connections from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James lowered their target price on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. CIBC reduced their price target on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Connections from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.06.

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.