Norges Bank Acquires New Holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 401,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,343,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 33.3% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 80,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,590,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,574,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $643,945,000 after purchasing an additional 581,310 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 186,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,314,000 after purchasing an additional 82,616 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 6.2% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,647,907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $156,353,000 after purchasing an additional 95,600 shares during the period. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 21.6% in the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 609,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,799,000 after purchasing an additional 108,146 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Casella Waste Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.13.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 1.5%

CWST stock opened at $84.58 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $83.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.05 and a fifty-two week high of $118.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 768.98 and a beta of 0.77.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.38% and a return on equity of 5.19%. The firm had revenue of $457.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bradford John Helgeson sold 405 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total value of $35,530.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 7,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,113.66. This represents a 5.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Casella sold 1,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total value of $153,070.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 30,795 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,877.15. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 19,422 shares of company stock valued at $1,729,647 over the last three months. 3.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Casella Waste Systems

Casella Waste Systems, Inc is a regional resource management company headquartered in Rutland, Vermont. Established in 1975, the company has grown from a single-truck operation into a multi-state provider of integrated waste management solutions. Casella offers a comprehensive range of services, including residential, commercial and industrial waste collection, transfer station operations, landfill disposal, recycling processing and organics management.

Through a network of solid waste transfer stations, recycling facilities and landfills, Casella serves communities primarily across the northeastern United States and parts of the mid-Atlantic region.