Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, an increase of 6.4% from the February 13th total of 1,090,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 226,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CWST. UBS Group raised Casella Waste Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Raymond James decreased their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. StockNews.com started coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $87.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Friday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.25.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Down 1.8 %

Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $79.15 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Casella Waste Systems has a 12 month low of $63.90 and a 12 month high of $92.20. The stock has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.93.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 17th. The industrial products company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $272.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.15 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 4.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, CFO Edmond Coletta sold 16,135 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.65, for a total transaction of $1,220,612.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,511,148.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Casella Waste Systems news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 869 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.65, for a total transaction of $65,739.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,162.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Edmond Coletta sold 16,135 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.65, for a total value of $1,220,612.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,511,148.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,850 shares of company stock valued at $1,430,153 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.6% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 2.9% during the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors now owns 4,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.1% during the second quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $869,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 42.2% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 0.5% in the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 28,520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,179,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.77% of the company’s stock.

About Casella Waste Systems

(Get Rating)

Casella Waste Systems, Inc engages in the provision of solid waste management. It operates through the Eastern Region and Western Region geographical segments. The Eastern region segment involves the transfer, landfill, processing, and recycling assets serviced by collection operations. The Western region segment consists of waste sheds in western New York, which include the Ithaca, Elmira, Oneonta, Lowville, Potsdam, Geneva, Auburn, Rochester, Dunkirk, Jamestown and Olean markets.