Analysts Split On Progressive Waste's Strategic Review

Gabelli & Company on Wednesday issued a company report on Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd (USA) BIN after the company's board of directors announced a review of strategic alternatives. Gabelli rates Progressive Waste Solutions as a Buy, while a price target is unavailable.

Research analyst Tony Bancroft wrote, "BIN is a well-managed pure play solid waste company which maintains strong assets in its Canadian operations. We believe the company is attractively valued at 7.9x 2017P EBITDA. BIN remains focused on generating strong cash flow and allocating capital to best build shareholder value."

A report issued by Bloomberg stated that the company is exploring a sale after cutting their profit forecast due to rising costs. Executives of Progressive announced that it hired JPMorgan Chase as its financial advisor, however, it did not validate the comments made in the report. Gabelli believes that if offered for sale, the company would be most attractive to private equity firms rather than strategic buyers due to leverage differential and concerns over differing business models with their peers.

As an investment, analysts believe that even if the company is not offered for sale, the stock could be a solid investment due to strong housing and GDP drivers and the potential of being awarded a $3 billion New York City DSNY contract.

Progressive Waste Solutions recently traded at $24.55, down 1.1 percent.