Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $122.67.

A number of brokerages recently commented on CWST. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen began coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total value of $237,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,414,578.49. This trade represents a 8.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CWST. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $7,815,000 after buying an additional 36,573 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 71.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 607,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,328,000 after purchasing an additional 14,369 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Casella Waste Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $116.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 507.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.28. Casella Waste Systems has a 12-month low of $91.01 and a 12-month high of $120.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.08. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 4.15%. The company had revenue of $417.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.64 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.16 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.