GFL Environmental Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:GFL)

GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE:GFL) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 38,721 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 156% compared to the average volume of 15,121 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GFL. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of GFL Environmental in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of GFL Environmental in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of GFL Environmental from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of GFL Environmental in a report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of GFL Environmental in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.56.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GFL Environmental

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GFL. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in GFL Environmental by 43.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,847,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,064,000 after buying an additional 563,001 shares during the last quarter. Verbena Value LP increased its holdings in shares of GFL Environmental by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Verbena Value LP now owns 1,211,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,527,000 after acquiring an additional 374,000 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in GFL Environmental by 68.7% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,158,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,309,000 after acquiring an additional 471,935 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. bought a new stake in GFL Environmental in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,887,000. Finally, Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in GFL Environmental by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 976,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,829,000 after purchasing an additional 230,199 shares during the last quarter. 64.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GFL Environmental Stock Down 3.8%

Shares of NYSE:GFL traded down $1.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.27. The stock had a trading volume of 5,261,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,613,632. The company has a market cap of $15.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -81.65, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.72. GFL Environmental has a 12 month low of $33.33 and a 12 month high of $46.76. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

GFL Environmental (NYSE:GFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. GFL Environmental had a positive return on equity of 4.14% and a negative net margin of 3.28%. The business’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that GFL Environmental will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GFL Environmental Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.0169 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 14th. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. GFL Environmental’s payout ratio is currently -13.21%.

About GFL Environmental

GFL Environmental Inc is a Canadian environmental services company that provides waste management and related infrastructure services to municipal, residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers. The company’s operations include the collection, transfer, processing, recycling and disposal of non-hazardous solid waste, as well as organics and other resource-recovery services.

GFL also provides infrastructure and soil remediation services, including the management of contaminated materials and related environmental projects.