Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) Upgraded to Hold by Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Zacks.com reports.

Separately, ATB Capital raised their target price on shares of Waste Connections from C$240.00 to C$255.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of C$196.10.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of C$61.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.24, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Connections has a 52 week low of C$174.74 and a 52 week high of C$253.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$247.28 and a 200-day moving average of C$237.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 100.60, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported C$1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.61 by C$0.09. The firm had revenue of C$3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$3.03 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 11.14%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Connections will post 9.9808652 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of ∞. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Connections news, Senior Officer Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$174.75, for a total value of C$401,925.00. In related news, Senior Officer Philip Rivard sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$174.75, for a total value of C$401,925.00. Also, Senior Officer Mary Anne Whitney sold 16,300 shares of Waste Connections stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$178.05, for a total transaction of C$2,902,254.12. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,671 shares of company stock valued at $6,073,683. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.