Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST is Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,804,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 27,148 shares during the quarter. Casella Waste Systems accounts for approximately 4.4% of Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $222,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 10,865.8% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 990,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,040,000 after purchasing an additional 981,617 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position 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 valued at $225,926,000 after buying an additional 871,761 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,106.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 867,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,067,000 after buying an additional 795,414 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 653.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 841,897 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,455,000 after buying an additional 730,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 581,310 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on CWST. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Barclays upgraded Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, May 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.12.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

CWST stock opened at $95.36 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a PE ratio of 866.99 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.78. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.05 and a 12-month high of $114.45.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $457.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

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

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.