Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Stock Rating Lowered by Jefferies Financial Group

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $113.00 price objective on the industrial products company's stock, down from their prior price objective of $115.00. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective points to a potential upside of 6.37% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Casella Waste Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $113.80.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CWST traded down $1.59 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $106.24. The stock had a trading volume of 166,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,390. The stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 886.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.55. Casella Waste Systems has a 12-month low of $84.45 and a 12-month high of $114.88.

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

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In related news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.81, for a total value of $184,781.30. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 861,463 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $85,476,000 after acquiring an additional 26,189 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $426,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,743 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $366,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,633 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company's stock.

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.