Aberdeen Group plc Raises Position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 79.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 186,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,616 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.29% of Casella Waste Systems worth $18,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,708,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $351,865,000 after purchasing an additional 296,405 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 7.3% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,876,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $272,881,000 after acquiring an additional 195,947 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 39.3% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,010,818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,786,000 after acquiring an additional 566,887 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 0.5% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,809,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $171,720,000 after buying an additional 9,712 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 6.2% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,647,907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $156,353,000 after buying an additional 95,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, President Edmond Coletta sold 3,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.70, for a total transaction of $357,184.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 147,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,782,426.70. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Kevin Drohan sold 675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $62,511.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $691,055.82. The trade was a 8.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 15,830 shares of company stock valued at $1,454,208 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CWST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell 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 $113.11.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $86.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of 718.64 and a beta of 0.84. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $74.05 and a 52-week high of $121.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.03.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $469.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $471.32 million. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.43% and a return on equity of 5.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 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.