D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Trims Stake in GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE:GFL)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE:GFL) by 62.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,872 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in GFL Environmental were worth $584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GFL. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in GFL Environmental by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,664,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,233,223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,506,021 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of GFL Environmental by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 26,973,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,201,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,751,618 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of GFL Environmental by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,697,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,705,000 after purchasing an additional 217,096 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in GFL Environmental by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC now owns 3,203,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,702,000 after buying an additional 47,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in GFL Environmental in the 4th quarter worth about $126,420,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GFL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of GFL Environmental to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on GFL Environmental in a report on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. National Bankshares reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of GFL Environmental in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on GFL Environmental from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of GFL Environmental in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

GFL Environmental Stock Performance

Shares of GFL opened at $49.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $18.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.93 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.22. GFL Environmental Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.57 and a 1 year high of $52.00.

GFL Environmental (NYSE:GFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. GFL Environmental had a negative net margin of 7.54% and a positive return on equity of 3.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that GFL Environmental Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

GFL Environmental Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th were paid a dividend of $0.0154 per share. This is an increase from GFL Environmental’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.13%. GFL Environmental’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1.23%.

GFL Environmental Profile

GFL Environmental Inc offers non-hazardous solid waste management and environmental services in Canada and the United States. It offers solid waste management, liquid waste management, and soil remediation services, including collection, transportation, transfer, recycling, and disposal services for municipal, residential, and commercial, and industrial customers.