Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Barclays raised Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $102.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.12.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $95.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $88.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.69. Casella Waste Systems has a 1 year low of $74.05 and a 1 year high of $112.88. The stock has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a PE ratio of 867.08 and a beta of 0.74.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $457.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $454.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casella Waste Systems

In other Casella Waste Systems news, CEO Edmond Coletta sold 12,500 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total value of $1,119,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 140,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,548,968.08. The trade was a 8.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.56, for a total transaction of $201,825.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,230,042.88. This trade represents a 14.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 10,865.8% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 990,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,040,000 after purchasing an additional 981,617 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 60.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,306,780 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $225,926,000 after buying an additional 871,761 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,106.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 867,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,067,000 after buying an additional 795,414 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 653.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 841,897 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,455,000 after buying an additional 730,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,574,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $643,945,000 after buying an additional 581,310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

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.