Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) has received an average rating of “Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $114.00.

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ CWST opened at $104.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 868.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Casella Waste Systems has a 52-week low of $80.04 and a 52-week high of $114.88.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 3.04% and a net margin of 0.46%. The firm had revenue of $411.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In related news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.81, for a total value of $184,781.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,252,088.85. The trade was a 7.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CWST. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 0.3% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,739,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $173,035,000 after buying an additional 4,462 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,680,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $166,725,000 after acquiring an additional 51,516 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,454,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $144,704,000 after purchasing an additional 487,661 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,430,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $142,393,000 after purchasing an additional 109,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,387,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $138,058,000 after purchasing an additional 75,352 shares during the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Casella Waste Systems

Casella Waste Systems, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a vertically integrated solid waste services company in the United States. It offers resource management services primarily in the areas of solid waste collection and disposal, transfer, recycling, and organics services to residential, commercial, municipal, institutional, and industrial customers.