Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $120.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $100.00.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on CWST. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.33.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 1.1%

Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $99.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $95.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.87. Casella Waste Systems has a twelve month low of $82.22 and a twelve month high of $121.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 415.39 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.09. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 5.63% and a net margin of 0.85%.The business had revenue of $485.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $477.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 8.7% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,708,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $351,865,000 after purchasing an additional 296,405 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 7.3% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,876,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $272,881,000 after purchasing an additional 195,947 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 20.0% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,597,599 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $299,711,000 after buying an additional 432,589 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,010,818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $190,786,000 after buying an additional 566,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,809,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $171,720,000 after buying an additional 9,712 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

About Casella Waste Systems

Casella Waste Systems, Inc is a regional resource management company headquartered in Rutland, Vermont. Established in 1975, the company has grown from a single-truck operation into a multi-state provider of integrated waste management solutions. Casella offers a comprehensive range of services, including residential, commercial and industrial waste collection, transfer station operations, landfill disposal, recycling processing and organics management.

Through a network of solid waste transfer stations, recycling facilities and landfills, Casella serves communities primarily across the northeastern United States and parts of the mid-Atlantic region.