Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Director Sells $153,070.88 in Stock

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Director John Casella sold 1,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $153,070.88. Following the sale, the director owned 30,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,877.15. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CWST traded up $0.37 during trading on Monday, reaching $88.46. 537,239 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 760,229. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.22 and a 12 month high of $121.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $99.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 737.23 and a beta of 0.80.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $469.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.32 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 0.43%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CWST has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. 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. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.11.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CWST. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,707,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 80,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,590,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 102,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,678,000 after acquiring an additional 29,605 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 81,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,725,000 after acquiring an additional 10,207 shares during the period. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 72.1% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 536,376 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,891,000 after acquiring an additional 224,691 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is 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.