Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $73.54 Million Stock Holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 134.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 750,859 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 430,822 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $73,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CWST. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 57.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 3,395 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 1,601.9% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 5,094 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 3,226.1% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,789,000 after purchasing an additional 67,749 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 301.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bradford John Helgeson sold 405 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total transaction of $35,530.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 7,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,113.66. This trade represents a 5.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Edmond Coletta sold 12,500 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $1,119,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 140,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,548,968.08. This represents a 8.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 19,422 shares of company stock worth $1,729,647 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on CWST shares. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays raised shares of Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.13.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

CWST stock opened at $84.58 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $83.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.50. The company has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 768.98 and a beta of 0.77. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $74.05 and a 52-week high of $118.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $457.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $454.49 million. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.38% and a return on equity of 5.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

About Casella Waste Systems

Casella Waste Systems, Inc is a regional resource management company headquartered in Rutland, Vermont. Established in 1975, the company has grown from a single-truck operation into a multi-state provider of integrated waste management solutions. Casella offers a comprehensive range of services, including residential, commercial and industrial waste collection, transfer station operations, landfill disposal, recycling processing and organics management.

Through a network of solid waste transfer stations, recycling facilities and landfills, Casella serves communities primarily across the northeastern United States and parts of the mid-Atlantic region.