Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Reaches New 52-Week High at $99.76

Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $99.76 and last traded at $99.76, with a volume of 15284 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $98.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CWST has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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 company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $99.71.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 221.89, a PEG ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.89. 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’s 50-day moving average is $90.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.35.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.03). Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 2.01% and a return on equity of 5.81%. The business had revenue of $359.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $360.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. Casella Waste Systems’s revenue was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, President Edmond Coletta sold 8,271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $746,871.30. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 168,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,220,606.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO John W. Casella sold 1,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 35,189 shares in the company, valued at $3,312,340.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Edmond Coletta sold 8,271 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the president now owns 168,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,220,606.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,238 shares of company stock worth $1,026,395 in the last quarter. Insiders own 4.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWST. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 18.5% during the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 946,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,218,000 after purchasing an additional 147,805 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the third quarter worth about $1,705,000. Comerica Bank raised its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 911.9% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 228,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,453,000 after buying an additional 206,133 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 1.8% in 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 buying an additional 55,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 26.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 36,796 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 7,666 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.