Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Shares Down 3.3%

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) shares dropped 3.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $86.41 and last traded at $91.24. Approximately 67,539 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 283,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CWST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Casella Waste Systems has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.71.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Down 4.5 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 290.52, a P/E/G ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.84.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $341.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $340.70 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 4.48% and a net margin of 1.32%. Casella Waste Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casella Waste Systems

In other Casella Waste Systems news, President Edmond Coletta sold 733 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.31, for a total value of $69,129.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 170,486 shares in the company, valued at $16,078,534.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Casella Waste Systems news, CEO John W. Casella sold 1,673 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 35,189 shares in the company, valued at $3,312,340.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Edmond Coletta sold 733 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.31, for a total value of $69,129.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 170,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,078,534.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,238 shares of company stock worth $1,026,395. 4.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,478,870 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $468,224,000 after acquiring an additional 92,085 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 7.7% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,284,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $324,785,000 after acquiring an additional 235,260 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.8% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,047,265 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $232,506,000 after acquiring an additional 55,066 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,679,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $204,409,000 after acquiring an additional 91,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 41.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,953,863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $149,080,000 after acquiring an additional 572,792 shares during the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.