The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Grows Position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 34,328 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,274 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.06% of Casella Waste Systems worth $3,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CWST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,536,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $547,385,000 after buying an additional 57,540 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.1% in the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,386,970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $336,055,000 after acquiring an additional 101,995 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.2% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,680,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $166,725,000 after acquiring an additional 51,516 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 9.3% during the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,062,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $105,020,000 after purchasing an additional 90,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 983,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,078,000 after purchasing an additional 148,913 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $98.30 on Wednesday. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.97 and a 52-week high of $109.08. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 317.10, a PEG ratio of 7.89 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $103.39 and its 200 day moving average is $99.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $377.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $373.87 million. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 1.35% and a return on equity of 3.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CWST. Raymond James upped their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned 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 $108.20.

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.