Levin Capital Strategies Increases Stake in Covanta Holding Corp (CVA)

John A. Levin‘s Levin Capital Strategies upped its holding of Covanta Holding Corp (NYSE:CVA). Currently, Levin Capital holds slightly more than 6.60 million shares – 5.00% of the company’s common stock total. According to the fund’s latest 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, fund previously held around 5.21 million shares in Covanta Holding.

Covanta Holding Corp (NYSE:CVA) is a slow-growth company, which owns and operates of infrastructure for the conversion of waste to energy and other waste disposal and renewable energy production businesses. Covanta manages 45 Energy-from-Waste facilities, which convert approximately 20 million tons of waste into clean, renewable electricity to power one million homes and recycle over 440,000 tons of metal annually, reducing greenhouse gases and complementing recycling.  A month ago, the company announced that it increased its quarterly cash dividend payments by 9.00% to $0.18 per share ($0.72 per share on an annualized basis).

On 23 October, 2013, the Covanta Holding Corp (NYSE:CVA)’s shares slumped almost 12.50% to $17.72, after the company lowered its fiscal 2013 earnings expectations to a range of  $0.33-$0.43 per share from the previously estimated $0.44 per share. The company generated $45.00 million or $0.38 per share in profits in FY 2013 and is expected to deliver around $0.42 earnings per share this year. In its first quarter 2014 financial results release the company announced adjusted loss per share of $0.03, highlighting that key metrics came in better than last year, largely due to higher energy prices and the timing of planned maintenance, and that its steady operations during the cold winter weather resulted in a net benefit, with higher energy prices partially offset by a number of factors. Covanta Holding’s shares are estimated to hit $20.85 in the following 12 months, currently quoted at around $18.80 and trading at a trailing Price to Earnings ratio of approximately 41.50, compared to the ratio of 16.80 for the Waste Management Industry.

Another fund, which owns a noteworthy number of shares of is Martin Whitman‘s Third Avenue Management, holding more than 6.60 million shares of the company.

Levin Capital Strategies manages a $6.21 billion worth equity portfolio. One of the largest shares is in the portfolio is represented by a position of 11.42 million shares in the technology and financial services giant General Electric Company (NYSE:GE).