Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Stock Position Increased by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 239,593 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 7,793 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.41% of Casella Waste Systems worth $20,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CWST. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CWST stock opened at $90.06 on Monday. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.97 and a 1-year high of $100.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 290.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.91.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.02. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 4.48% and a net margin of 1.32%. The business had revenue of $341.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $340.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. Casella Waste Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Edmond Coletta sold 8,271 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $746,871.30. Following the transaction, the president now owns 168,556 shares in the company, valued at $15,220,606.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, President Edmond Coletta sold 8,271 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $746,871.30. Following the transaction, the president now owns 168,556 shares in the company, valued at $15,220,606.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John W. Casella sold 1,673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.13, for a total value of $157,479.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,312,340.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,238 shares of company stock worth $1,026,395. 4.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $99.71.

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.