Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the four ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $101.50.

CWST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

CWST stock opened at $90.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 291.61, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.01. Casella Waste Systems has a twelve month low of $72.97 and a twelve month high of $100.29.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The industrial products company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $341.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $340.70 million. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 1.32% and a return on equity of 4.48%. Casella Waste Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems will post 0.77 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Edmond Coletta sold 8,271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $746,871.30. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 168,556 shares in the company, valued at $15,220,606.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, President Edmond Coletta sold 8,271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total value of $746,871.30. Following the sale, the president now owns 168,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,220,606.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John W. Casella sold 1,673 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.13, for a total value of $157,479.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,312,340.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,238 shares of company stock worth $1,026,395. 4.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWST. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 38,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,789,000 after purchasing an additional 4,132 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 16.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 2.4% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 10,253 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 7.7% in the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,284,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $324,785,000 after acquiring an additional 235,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the first quarter valued at $65,000. 99.51% of the stock is 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.