Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

CWST has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $101.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.13.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $91.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 827.62 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.46. Casella Waste Systems has a 52-week low of $74.05 and a 52-week high of $118.91.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $457.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.49 million. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.38% and a return on equity of 5.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John W. Casella sold 1,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $153,070.88. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,795 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,877.15. This represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.56, for a total transaction of $201,825.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,230,042.88. This trade represents a 14.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 18,027 shares of company stock worth $1,604,141 over the last 90 days. 3.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,574,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $643,945,000 after buying an additional 581,310 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,765,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $368,787,000 after buying an additional 56,914 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,804,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $222,507,000 after buying an additional 27,148 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,703,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $264,816,000 after buying an additional 300,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,488,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $243,678,000 after buying an additional 477,216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

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.