This company runs the trucks, transfer stations, and landfills that quietly handle a basic need for households, businesses, and cities across North America, and its beta of 0.44 means its stock barely moves with the broader market. That low correlation is not an accident. Waste collection and disposal spending holds up in good times and bad, since customers cannot simply stop generating trash.
The business owns the disposal infrastructure it uses, rather than renting access to it, and that ownership gives it real control over pricing. A recent acquisition added a healthcare waste segment, spreading revenue across medical waste disposal and document destruction alongside the traditional collection business. Growth is coming from higher margin recycling and renewable energy work, though softer collection volumes and a handful of lost accounts show that even durable businesses face near term bumps.
We increased our position in this name within the Dividend Protection Stocks Portfolio because the combination of infrastructure ownership, a long dividend increase streak, and low stock price volatility fits our mandate for capital preservation. Adding to a holding that already scores well on safety and low risk reinforces the portfolio’s defensive core without chasing yield at the expense of stability.
