Nicholas Company Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Nicholas Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 79,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 9,710 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $7,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWST. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 180.2% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 301.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 235.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 280.0% during the 3rd quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Casella Waste Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.13.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CWST opened at $85.44 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 776.80 and a beta of 0.77. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 1-year low of $74.05 and a 1-year high of $119.71. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.94.

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

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, CFO Bradford John Helgeson sold 405 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total value of $35,530.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 7,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,113.66. The trade was a 5.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John W. Casella sold 6,726 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.10, for a total value of $626,190.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,605,775.90. This represents a 19.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,830 shares of company stock valued at $1,454,208. 3.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Casella Waste Systems 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.