Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Shares Sold by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 13.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $2,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CWST. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,577,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $272,705,000 after purchasing an additional 838,086 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Casella Waste Systems by 157.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 740,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,517,000 after acquiring an additional 452,776 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Casella Waste Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,785,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Casella Waste Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,326,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in Casella Waste Systems by 1,368.2% in the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 279,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,600,000 after acquiring an additional 260,689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In related news, President Edmond Coletta sold 5,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.18, for a total transaction of $662,879.16. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 150,093 shares in the company, valued at $17,888,083.74. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total value of $237,340.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 20,347 shares in the company, valued at $2,414,578.49. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CWST. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.67.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $114.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 520.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $116.19 and a 200-day moving average of $112.04. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.01 and a 52 week high of $121.24.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $417.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $403.64 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 4.69% and a net margin of 0.79%. The business’s revenue was up 22.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 EPS 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.