Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 25.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,997 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 64.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Casella Waste Systems by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 9.9% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the third quarter valued at about $301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.81, for a total transaction of $184,781.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,252,088.85. This represents a 7.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CWST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. William Blair started coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

CWST stock opened at $105.20 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 876.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.33. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.04 and a 52-week high of $114.88. 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 (NASDAQ:CWST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $411.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.59 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 3.04% and a net margin of 0.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.65 EPS for the current year.

Casella Waste Systems Profile

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.