Congress Asset Management Co. Purchases New Shares in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,606.7% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CWST. Jefferies Financial Group cut Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.20.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CWST opened at $115.01 on Wednesday. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.41 and a 1 year high of $115.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $107.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.88. The company has a market cap of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 958.42, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 2.48.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.25. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 3.04%. Sell-side analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current 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.