Analysts Set Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) PT at $122.67

Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $122.67.

Several research firms recently weighed in on CWST. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Casella Waste Systems stock traded up $2.09 on Monday, reaching $116.51. 423,777 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 390,532. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $116.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 529.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Casella Waste Systems has a fifty-two week low of $91.01 and a fifty-two week high of $121.24.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $417.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.64 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 4.69% and a net margin of 0.79%. Casella Waste Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casella Waste Systems news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total value of $237,340.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,414,578.49. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 150,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,888,083.74. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.81% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 2,767 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,469 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 10,998 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 802 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,388 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. 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.