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

GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE:GFL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 21,786 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 409% compared to the typical volume of 4,283 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GFL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on GFL Environmental in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of GFL Environmental in a research report on Friday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on GFL Environmental from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup set a $51.00 price target on GFL Environmental and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.60.

GFL Environmental Stock Down 1.8%

GFL traded down $0.78 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,042,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,353,716. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. GFL Environmental has a twelve month low of $33.33 and a twelve month high of $48.07. The company has a market capitalization of $15.00 billion, a PE ratio of -78.40, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.68.

GFL Environmental (NYSE:GFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that GFL Environmental will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

GFL Environmental Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th were paid a $0.0169 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 13th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. GFL Environmental’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -13.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GFL Environmental

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tobam boosted its stake in GFL Environmental by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 3,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in GFL Environmental by 36.9% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of GFL Environmental by 8.8% in the first quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 7,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of GFL Environmental in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of GFL Environmental by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 40,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,748,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.70% of the company’s stock.

About GFL Environmental

GFL Environmental Inc is an environmental services company that provides waste management and infrastructure services to residential, commercial, industrial, municipal and institutional customers. Its operations include the collection, transfer, processing, recycling and disposal of solid waste, as well as the management of organic materials and other waste streams.

The company also provides environmental and infrastructure-related services, including soil remediation, dewatering, excavation, demolition and other site services.