Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,607 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.06% of Casella Waste Systems worth $2,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intellectus Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 124.3% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 75,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,478,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 239,593 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,476,000 after purchasing an additional 7,793 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CWST shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.50.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CWST stock opened at $94.28 on Tuesday. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.97 and a 12-month high of $100.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 304.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.48.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The industrial products company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.01. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 4.47% and a net margin of 1.32%. The company had revenue of $341.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $340.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In other Casella Waste Systems news, President Edmond Coletta sold 8,271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.30, for a total transaction of $746,871.30. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 168,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,220,606.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO John W. Casella sold 1,673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.13, for a total transaction of $157,479.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,312,340.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Edmond Coletta sold 8,271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the president now owns 168,556 shares in the company, valued at $15,220,606.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,238 shares of company stock worth $1,026,395 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.24% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Profile

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.