Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $113.1111.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CWST shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Casella Waste Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of CWST stock opened at $76.06 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.66. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 633.89 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Casella Waste Systems has a twelve month low of $75.82 and a twelve month high of $121.24.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $469.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $471.32 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 0.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other Casella Waste Systems news, CEO John W. Casella sold 6,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.10, for a total value of $626,190.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 27,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,605,775.90. This represents a 19.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bradford John Helgeson sold 405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total value of $35,530.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 7,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,113.66. This represents a 5.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 15,830 shares of company stock worth $1,454,208 in the last 90 days. 3.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 57.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 3,395 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,601.9% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 5,094 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3,226.1% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,789,000 after purchasing an additional 67,749 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 301.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 8.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 71,373 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,235,000 after purchasing an additional 5,342 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

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.