Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires New Stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 10,588 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,053,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,110 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,730 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 76.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 321 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 10,436 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 3.6% in the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.81, for a total value of $184,781.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,252,088.85. This trade represents a 7.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CWST shares. Raymond James raised their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. William Blair initiated coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Casella Waste Systems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.50.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CWST traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $111.21. 216,716 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 287,762. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $105.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 926.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.04 and a 12 month high of $114.88.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $411.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.59 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 3.04% and a net margin of 0.46%. The business's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.