Earnest Partners LLC Reduces Position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Earnest Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,195,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 68,956 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 1.88% of Casella Waste Systems worth $113,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,707,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 33.3% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 80,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,590,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 40.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 14.3% in the third 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 holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 72.1% in the third 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In related news, CAO Kevin Drohan sold 675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $62,511.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $691,055.82. This trade represents a 8.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Edmond Coletta sold 3,812 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.70, for a total transaction of $357,184.40. Following the sale, the president owned 147,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,782,426.70. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 11,213 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,887 over the last three months. 3.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CWST shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 cut Casella Waste Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Casella Waste Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.11.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $88.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 734.14 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.39. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.22 and a 52 week high of $121.24.

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

Casella Waste Systems Profile

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.