Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.04), Zacks reports. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 10.81%.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

WCN traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $189.54. 1,174,984 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 931,384. The stock has a market cap of $48.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta 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 50-day simple moving average of $179.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.43. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WCN shares. Raymond James cut their target price on Waste Connections from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. CIBC dropped their price objective on Waste Connections from $215.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $205.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $196.00 to $192.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Connections has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.06.

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.