Brokerages Set Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Price Target at $122.67

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $122.67.

CWST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, February 14th. TD Cowen began coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, President Edmond Coletta sold 5,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.18, for a total value of $662,879.16. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 150,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,888,083.74. This represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total value of $237,340.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,414,578.49. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,110,529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $646,555,000 after buying an additional 123,001 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,577,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $272,705,000 after acquiring an additional 838,086 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 18.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,165,010 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $241,420,000 after acquiring an additional 334,790 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,644,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,002,000 after purchasing an additional 190,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $165,023,000 after purchasing an additional 77,574 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CWST opened at $116.93 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $114.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Casella Waste Systems has a twelve month low of $91.01 and a twelve month high of $121.24. The company has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of 508.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.89.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $417.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.64 million. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 4.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

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.