Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Shares Acquired by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $1,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWST. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 4th quarter worth $43,785,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $31,326,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,644,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,002,000 after purchasing an additional 190,023 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 495,294 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,604,000 after buying an additional 144,212 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 716,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $75,788,000 after buying an additional 138,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CWST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CWST stock opened at $118.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $110.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.82. The company has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 513.22, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.96. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.41 and a 12 month high of $118.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.25. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 4.15%. Sell-side analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casella Waste Systems Company 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.