Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Price Target Lowered to $130.00 at UBS Group

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) had its price target trimmed by UBS Group from $140.00 to $130.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group set a $120.00 price target on Casella Waste Systems and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Raymond James Financial restated 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. Zacks Research raised Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.11.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 6.9%

CWST stock opened at $89.17 on Tuesday. Casella Waste Systems has a twelve month low of $82.22 and a twelve month high of $121.24. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 743.15 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.58.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Casella Waste Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casella Waste Systems news, CAO Kevin Drohan sold 675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was 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. This represents a 8.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John W. Casella sold 6,726 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.10, for a total value of $626,190.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,605,775.90. The trade was a 19.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,213 shares of company stock worth $1,045,887. 3.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SHP Wealth Management bought a new stake in Casella Waste Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. MidFirst Bank bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,703,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $264,816,000 after purchasing an additional 300,102 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 45.2% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 5,195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,395,000. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.