Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $110.1250.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of 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 research report on Monday, May 4th.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 2.8%

NASDAQ:CWST opened at $99.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 900.17 and a beta of 0.74. Casella Waste Systems has a 1-year low of $74.05 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $87.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of the 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 transaction, the director owned 14,048 shares in the company, valued at $1,230,042.88. This trade represents a 14.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Edmond Coletta sold 12,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CWST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 9.7% during 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. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 186,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,314,000 after acquiring an additional 82,616 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 11.3% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 550,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $52,237,000 after acquiring an additional 55,821 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,784,000. Finally, Riverbridge Partners LLC acquired a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the 1st quarter valued at $13,742,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

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.