Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $135.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Casella Waste Systems traded as high as $116.40 and last traded at $115.43, with a volume of 174875 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $115.08.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.67.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 78,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,815,000 after purchasing an additional 36,573 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 8.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,430,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $142,393,000 after buying an additional 109,288 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 607,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $64,328,000 after buying an additional 14,369 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 31,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,140,000 after buying an additional 5,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. Institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 1.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 509.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $110.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.75.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.25. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 4.15%. Research analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

About Casella Waste Systems

Casella Waste Systems, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a vertically integrated solid waste services company in the United States. It offers resource management services primarily in the areas of solid waste collection and disposal, transfer, recycling, and organics services to residential, commercial, municipal, institutional, and industrial customers.