Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $127.00 to $129.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Casella Waste Systems traded as high as $115.07 and last traded at $114.93, with a volume of 276672 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $111.36.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective 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, Jefferies Financial Group cut Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $113.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.20.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CWST. GTS Securities LLC bought a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 150,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,875,000 after acquiring an additional 16,458 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 20,118 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,544 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 4th quarter worth $12,173,000. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,276 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a PE ratio of 958.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $107.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.88.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.25. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 3.04%. Research analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.65 earnings per share 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.