Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 27,700 Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 27,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,198,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,574,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $643,945,000 after buying an additional 581,310 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 1.5% during the fourth 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. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,703,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $264,816,000 after acquiring an additional 300,102 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,488,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $243,678,000 after acquiring an additional 477,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 60.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,306,780 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $225,926,000 after acquiring an additional 871,761 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.56, for a total value of $201,825.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,230,042.88. This trade represents a 14.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Edmond Coletta sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $1,119,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 140,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,548,968.08. This represents a 8.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:CWST opened at $94.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 857.17 and a beta of 0.77. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $74.05 and a 1 year high of $116.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 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%. Casella Waste Systems’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays raised 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.12.

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.