Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Holdings in GFL Environmental Inc. $GFL

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group disclosed a new 4th-quarter stake in GFL Environmental, buying 1,031,408 shares worth about $44.3 million and representing roughly 0.29% of the company.
• Institutional interest remains strong, with hedge funds and other investors owning 64.7% of GFL’s shares. Several firms, including Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Invesco, also increased their positions recently.
• GFL’s latest earnings topped expectations, reporting $0.06 EPS on revenue of $1.18 billion, while analysts currently view the stock as a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $55.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE:GFL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,031,408 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,299,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.29% of GFL Environmental as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GFL. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of GFL Environmental by 684.5% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,573 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 2,245 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of GFL Environmental by 94.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 714,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,514,000 after acquiring an additional 346,394 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of GFL Environmental by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 458,936 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,171,000 after acquiring an additional 14,252 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of GFL Environmental by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 86,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,388,000 after acquiring an additional 16,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of GFL Environmental by 43.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 727 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on GFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of GFL Environmental from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $49.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of GFL Environmental from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of GFL Environmental from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of GFL Environmental in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of GFL Environmental from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, GFL Environmental presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.00.

GFL Environmental Stock Performance

Shares of GFL opened at $35.65 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $39.98 and its 200-day moving average is $42.39. GFL Environmental Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.46 and a 12 month high of $51.51. The firm has a market cap of $12.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

GFL Environmental (NYSE:GFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.01. GFL Environmental had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 4.53%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.09) EPS. GFL Environmental's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that GFL Environmental Inc. will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GFL Environmental Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 13th were issued a $0.0169 dividend. This is a boost from GFL Environmental's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 13th. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. GFL Environmental's payout ratio is currently 21.88%.

GFL Environmental Profile

GFL Environmental Inc is a leading North American provider of diversified environmental services, offering comprehensive solutions across solid waste management, liquid waste management, soil remediation and infrastructure services. The company's core business activities include residential, commercial and industrial waste collection, recycling, composting and landfill management. In addition to traditional waste services, GFL provides specialized liquid waste hauling, treatment and disposal services as well as environmental consulting to support industrial and municipal clients in meeting regulatory and sustainability goals.

Founded in 2007 by entrepreneur Patrick Dovigi, GFL Environmental has pursued an aggressive growth strategy driven by strategic acquisitions and organic expansion.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GFL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE:GFL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.