Waste Connections (TSE:WCN) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Waste Connections, Inc. (TSE:WCN) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as C$263.95 and last traded at C$263.56, with a volume of 65091 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$260.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank raised Waste Connections to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. ATB Capital increased their target price on Waste Connections from C$255.00 to C$260.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Eight Capital set a C$270.00 price target on Waste Connections and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$205.10.

Waste Connections Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 100.60. The firm has a market cap of C$68.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is C$249.30 and its 200-day moving average is C$242.36.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.426 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Connections’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Waste Connections’s dividend payout ratio is 34.37%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Connections

In other Waste Connections news, Director Edward E. Guillet sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$249.52, for a total value of C$1,996,164.00. Also, Senior Officer Robert Andres Nielsen sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$260.63, for a total value of C$260,625.00. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,571 shares of company stock worth $2,400,841. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.