Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN) AI Stock Analysis

Waste Connections, Inc. provides non-hazardous waste management services across the United States and Canada. Its offerings include solid waste collection, transfer, landfill disposal, and recycling services for compost, cardboard, mixed paper, plastics, glass, and metals. The company operates a network of transfer stations to route waste to landfills and treatment facilities. It also provides intermodal rail haul services for solid waste containers primarily in the Pacific Northwest. In addition, Waste Connections serves the energy sector by providing exploration and production waste treatment, recovery, and disposal services, alongside environmental remediation like contaminated soil treatment during site reclamation.

Waste Connections increased annual revenue from $6.15B in FY2021 to $9.50B in FY2025, recording a 5-year revenue CAGR of 11.8%. Net income rose from $618.0M in FY2021 to $1.08B in FY2025, while EPS grew from $3.23 to $5.15 over the same timeframe. Annual operating margin was 18.1% in FY2025, compared to 16.9% in FY2021 and 12.0% in FY2024. For the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2026, revenue stood at $9.76B with an operating margin of 19.7%. In the latest quarter, quarterly revenue grew 6.4% year-over-year, and quarterly earnings grew 4.4%.

As of June 30, 2026, Waste Connections held $98.2M in cash and short-term investments against total debt of $9.61B, resulting in net debt of $9.51B. Shareholders' equity was $7.92B, yielding a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 0.67. In FY2025, operating cash flow reached $2.41B and free cash flow was $1.22B. Capital expenditures were $1.19B, while the company directed $505.5M toward share buybacks and paid $333.8M in dividends.

At a share price of $167.90 and a market cap of $42.24B, Waste Connections trades at a trailing P/E of 40.6x and a forward P/E of 18.1x. These compare to medians of 24.8x and 17.2x, respectively, for its US-listed Industrials peers. The company's price-to-sales ratio of 4.3x is higher than the peer median of 1.5x, and its EV-to-EBITDA stands at 16.2x compared to the peer median of 13.9x. Over the past year, the stock fell 0.9%, underperforming the S&P 500 return of 16.8%.

Waste Connections pays a forward annual dividend of $1.40 per share, representing a dividend yield of 0.83% and a payout ratio of 25.6%. The company distributes dividends quarterly and has paid dividends for 25 consecutive years. Over the past five years, its annualized dividend growth rate was 11.2%, with the most recent ex-dividend date occurring on August 6, 2026.

Wall Street coverage includes 19 Strong Buy, 6 Buy, and 3 Hold ratings, with no Sell or Strong Sell ratings. The mean price target is $196.72, representing an upside of 17.2% over the last close of $167.90. For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026, analysts estimate EPS of $5.65 on revenue of $10.05B. Waste Connections beat EPS estimates in each of the last 4 quarters, with its next earnings date scheduled for October 21, 2026.

This page is an AI-written research summary of Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN). The text was generated on October 30, 2026 from Quotelinks data as of October 16, 2026 (company profile, annual results, latest balance sheet, valuation, price performance and analyst estimates). An automatic check rejects any draft that contains a figure not found in that data. It is not investment advice; verify figures on the linked tabs before making decisions.

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