Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Receives $111.50 Average Target Price from Analysts

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $111.50.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair started coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 price objective (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 0.4 %

Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $106.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.75 billion, a PE ratio of 887.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 0.99. Casella Waste Systems has a twelve month low of $79.16 and a twelve month high of $111.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $102.58 and a 200-day moving average of $101.46.

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

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other Casella Waste Systems news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,252,088.85. This represents a 7.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWST. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 15.0% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 1st quarter worth about $263,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 112,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,123,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the 1st quarter valued at about $316,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.