Analysts Set Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Price Target at $113.80

Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $113.80.

Several research firms recently commented on CWST. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair began coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,252,088.85. This trade represents a 7.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CWST. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 0.3% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,739,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $173,035,000 after acquiring an additional 4,462 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 50.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,454,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $144,704,000 after purchasing an additional 487,661 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 8.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 109,288 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,387,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $138,058,000 after buying an additional 75,352 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040,619 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $103,531,000 after buying an additional 4,324 shares during the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CWST opened at $108.91 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $108.51 and a 200 day moving average of $105.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 907.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.03. Casella Waste Systems has a 12 month low of $84.45 and a 12 month high of $114.88.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 3.04%. The firm had revenue of $411.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal 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.