Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Boosts Stake in GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE:GFL)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE:GFL) by 20.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,531,244 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 260,083 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in GFL Environmental were worth $68,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of GFL Environmental by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 341,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,225,000 after purchasing an additional 30,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of GFL Environmental during the 4th quarter valued at about $126,420,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of GFL Environmental by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 968,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,145,000 after purchasing an additional 152,072 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in shares of GFL Environmental by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 119,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,333,000 after purchasing an additional 61,211 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in GFL Environmental by 2.6% during the fourth 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GFL. Citigroup began coverage on shares of GFL Environmental in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of GFL Environmental in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised GFL Environmental from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank upped their price target on GFL Environmental from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, National Bankshares reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of GFL Environmental in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.63.

GFL Environmental Price Performance

GFL opened at $47.78 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.91. GFL Environmental Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.57 and a 12-month high of $49.35. The firm has a market cap of $18.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.93 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

GFL Environmental (NYSE:GFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. GFL Environmental had a negative net margin of 7.54% and a positive return on equity of 3.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that GFL Environmental Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

GFL Environmental Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th were paid a $0.014 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 13th. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.12%. GFL Environmental’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -3.23%.

GFL Environmental Company 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.