Insider Selling: Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) President Sells 5,562 Shares of Stock

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) President Edmond Coletta sold 5,562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.18, for a total value of $662,879.16. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 150,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,888,083.74. The trade was a 3.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of CWST stock opened at $120.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.00. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.01 and a twelve month high of $121.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.55. The company has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 522.49, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.89.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.08. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 4.15% and a net margin of 0.87%. The business had revenue of $417.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.64 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CWST shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen started 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 objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 29.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 131,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,122,000 after buying an additional 29,686 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $50,604,000 after purchasing an additional 144,212 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 87.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 78,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,815,000 after buying an additional 36,573 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 68,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,205,000 after buying an additional 1,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

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.