Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

CWST has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $102.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, 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 report on Friday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Casella Waste Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.12.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

CWST opened at $95.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $88.13 and a 200-day moving average of $91.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 867.08 and a beta of 0.74. Casella Waste Systems has a 12-month low of $74.05 and a 12-month high of $112.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.56, for a total transaction of $201,825.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,230,042.88. This represents a 14.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edmond Coletta sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total value of $1,119,500.00. Following 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,574,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $643,945,000 after purchasing an additional 581,310 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,765,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $368,787,000 after buying an additional 56,914 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.0% in the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,804,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $222,507,000 after buying an additional 27,148 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,703,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $264,816,000 after buying an additional 300,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,488,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $243,678,000 after acquiring an additional 477,216 shares during the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.