Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Given Consensus Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Buy" by the five analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $111.50.

CWST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James upped their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 target price (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating for the company.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.81, for a total transaction of $184,781.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,085 shares in the company, valued at $2,252,088.85. The trade was a 7.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 4.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 277.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 723,405 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $71,523,000 after purchasing an additional 531,573 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 848,976 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,465,000 after purchasing an additional 151,744 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,924,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new stake in Casella Waste Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at $12,245,000. Finally, F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the second quarter valued at about $11,093,000. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CWST stock traded down $2.86 during trading on Thursday, reaching $107.02. The company had a trading volume of 335,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 316,043. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $102.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.28. Casella Waste Systems has a one year low of $79.16 and a one year high of $111.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 2.48. The company has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 891.83, a PEG ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 0.99.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 3.04% and a net margin of 0.46%. The business had revenue of $411.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems will post 0.65 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.