Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. Waste Connections had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 10.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Waste Connections updated its FY 2024 guidance to EPS.

Waste Connections Stock Down 0.2 %

WCN stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $179.93. 192,945 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 877,141. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. Waste Connections has a 1-year low of $126.12 and a 1-year high of $187.54. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.05. The company has a market cap of $46.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. This is a boost from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total value of $2,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,706,466.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Waste Connections news, SVP Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.75, for a total value of $401,925.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,243.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.05, for a total transaction of $2,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,899 shares in the company, valued at $8,706,466.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,550. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Connections from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Waste Connections in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Eight Capital upgraded shares of Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Connections has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.19.

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.