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

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $110.1250.

CWST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research raised Casella Waste Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Monday, May 4th.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other Casella Waste Systems news, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.56, for a total transaction of $201,825.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,230,042.88. This represents a 14.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edmond Coletta sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $1,119,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 140,118 shares in the company, valued at $12,548,968.08. This trade represents a 8.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 36.8% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,531,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $342,459,000 after acquiring an additional 949,374 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at $202,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 2nd quarter valued at $210,000. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 26,652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,584,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the period. Finally, PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 11,970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CWST opened at $89.71 on Tuesday. Casella Waste Systems has a 12 month low of $74.05 and a 12 month high of $109.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $90.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 815.62 and a beta of 0.74.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.10. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.38% and a return on equity of 5.19%. The firm had revenue of $457.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $454.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.