Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Stock: Insider Bradford John Helgeson Sells 195 Shares

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) CFO Bradford Helgeson sold 195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.72, for a total transaction of $19,250.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 7,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,551.84. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Up 5.9%

NASDAQ CWST opened at $98.53 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.05 and a twelve month high of $107.96. The company has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -547.36 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average is $89.48 and its 200 day moving average is $89.97.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $559.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $563.17 million. Casella Waste Systems had a positive return on equity of 5.04% and a negative net margin of 0.56%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Casella Waste Systems News

These are some of the CWST news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue grew 15.2% year over year to $559.2 million, despite falling short of analysts’ estimates. Casella earnings and revenue results
• Neutral Sentiment: CFO Bradford Helgeson sold 195 shares under a pre-arranged plan to cover tax withholding on vested awards; the sale was small relative to his remaining stake. CFO share sale details
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter EPS of $0.35 missed the $0.42 consensus and was down from $0.42 a year earlier. Revenue of $559.2 million also missed estimates of $563.2 million, weighing on confidence despite sales growth. What the earnings miss means for shareholders

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,093,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 230,769 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,928 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $254,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 50,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,097,000 after acquiring an additional 11,613 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CWST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $106.00 price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $122.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.80.

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

Casella Waste Systems is a regional solid waste services company that provides collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource management services. Its customers include residential, commercial, municipal and industrial clients. The company operates primarily in the northeastern United States, with services across states including Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Its operations also include recycling and organics services designed to recover materials and manage waste.