Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Cuts Position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 60.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,468 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,412,123 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $393,691,000 after purchasing an additional 428,909 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,876,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $272,881,000 after buying an additional 195,947 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 20.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,597,599 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $299,711,000 after buying an additional 432,589 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 0.5% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,809,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $171,720,000 after buying an additional 9,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 6.2% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,647,907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $156,353,000 after acquiring an additional 95,600 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 3.5%

Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $94.03 on Friday. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.22 and a 12 month high of $121.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.75. 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 $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 783.65 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, CAO Kevin Drohan sold 675 shares of Casella Waste Systems 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,462 shares in the company, valued at $691,055.82. The trade was a 8.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Edmond Coletta sold 3,812 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the president directly owned 147,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,782,426.70. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,213 shares of company stock worth $1,045,887. Company insiders own 3.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $120.00 target price on Casella Waste Systems and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.22.

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.