Sterling Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 44.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,544 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $1,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,574,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $643,945,000 after purchasing an additional 581,310 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,765,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $368,787,000 after purchasing an additional 56,914 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,703,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $264,816,000 after purchasing an additional 300,102 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,488,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $243,678,000 after purchasing an additional 477,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 60.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,306,780 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $225,926,000 after purchasing an additional 871,761 shares during the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, CEO Edmond Coletta sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 140,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,548,968.08. The trade was a 8.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.56, for a total value of $201,825.80. Following the sale, the director owned 14,048 shares in the company, valued at $1,230,042.88. The trade was a 14.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CWST. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Barclays raised Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $102.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.12.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $94.28 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $85.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 857.17 and a beta of 0.77. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.05 and a twelve month high of $116.45.

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

Casella Waste Systems Profile

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.