Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Cut to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $113.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $115.00.

CWST has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.80.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $105.03 on Thursday. Casella Waste Systems has a 52-week low of $84.45 and a 52-week high of $114.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 2.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $108.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 875.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.03.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 3.04% and a net margin of 0.46%. The firm had revenue of $411.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. Casella Waste Systems’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.81, for a total transaction of $184,781.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,252,088.85. The trade was a 7.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CWST. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 108.0% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 66,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,579,000 after purchasing an additional 34,340 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 87.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 78,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,815,000 after acquiring an additional 36,573 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,430,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $142,393,000 after acquiring an additional 109,288 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 667.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 48,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 41,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 861,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,476,000 after purchasing an additional 26,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

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.