GFL Environmental (NYSE:GFL) Stock Sees Heavy Call Option Buying

GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE:GFL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 37,490 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 313% compared to the average volume of 9,069 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GFL Environmental

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GFL. Bank of America Corp DE boosted 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 acquiring an additional 563,001 shares during the last quarter. Verbena Value LP raised its holdings in GFL Environmental by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Verbena Value LP now owns 1,211,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,527,000 after acquiring an additional 374,000 shares during the last quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP raised its holdings in GFL Environmental by 80.8% in the 4th quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP now owns 1,342,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,656,000 after acquiring an additional 600,000 shares during the last quarter. Boussard & Gavaudan Gestion Sas purchased a new position in GFL Environmental in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,707,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of GFL Environmental during the 1st quarter worth approximately $635,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GFL shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of GFL Environmental in a report on Monday, August 31st. 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 initiated coverage on shares of GFL Environmental in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of GFL Environmental in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of GFL Environmental in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.67.

GFL Environmental Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE GFL opened at $42.80 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.64. GFL Environmental has a 52-week low of $33.33 and a 52-week high of $47.01. The firm has a market cap of $15.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -80.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.03). The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. Equities analysts predict that GFL Environmental will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GFL Environmental Dividend Announcement

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

GFL Environmental Company Profile

GFL Environmental Inc is a North American 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.

GFL also provides recycling and organics management services, including the processing of recyclable materials and organic waste. Its environmental services include liquid waste management, soil remediation, infrastructure services and other specialized solutions for industrial and commercial customers.

Founded in 2007, GFL is headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario, and serves communities and customers across Canada and the United States.