Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Stock Price Down 3.3%

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) shares traded down 3.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $86.41 and last traded at $91.24. 67,539 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 283,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised Casella Waste Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Casella Waste Systems currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.71.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 4.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 205.76, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $94.40 and a 200-day moving average of $86.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 5.81% and a net margin of 2.01%. The business had revenue of $341.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $340.70 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.77 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casella Waste Systems news, CEO John W. Casella sold 1,673 shares of Casella Waste Systems 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,312,340.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Casella Waste Systems news, President Edmond Coletta sold 8,271 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 168,556 shares of the company’s stock, 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 hyperlink. Also, CEO John W. Casella sold 1,673 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,312,340.57. 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 4.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 45.6% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 9,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Casella Waste Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,252,000. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 899,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,602,000 after acquiring an additional 338,140 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 25.6% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $916,000 after acquiring an additional 2,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the third quarter valued at about $288,000. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.