Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research cut Casella Waste Systems from “hold” to “strong sell”, even though the broader analyst view remains Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $111.13.
• The stock was trading at $91.03 at the time of the report, with a $5.79 billion market cap; its recent earnings beat expectations, posting $0.20 EPS versus the $0.10 estimate and revenue of $457.33 million, up 9.6% year over year.
• Company insiders have been selling shares recently, including CEO Edmond Coletta and Director Michael K. Burke; insiders sold a total of 18,027 shares worth about $1.6 million over the last ninety days.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Barclays raised Casella Waste Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $102.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.13.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of CWST opened at $91.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 827.62 and a beta of 0.77. Casella Waste Systems has a 1-year low of $74.05 and a 1-year high of $118.91. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $84.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.38% and a return on equity of 5.19%. The firm had revenue of $457.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $454.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casella Waste Systems news, CEO Edmond Coletta sold 12,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $1,119,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 140,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,548,968.08. The trade was a 8.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.56, for a total value of $201,825.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,230,042.88. The trade was a 14.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 18,027 shares of company stock worth $1,604,141 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.78% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 33.3% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 80,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,590,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,574,893 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $643,945,000 after acquiring an additional 581,310 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 186,992 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,314,000 after acquiring an additional 82,616 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 6.2% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,647,907 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $156,353,000 after acquiring an additional 95,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 21.6% in the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 609,175 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,799,000 after acquiring an additional 108,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company's stock.

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

Casella Waste Systems, Inc is a regional resource management company headquartered in Rutland, Vermont. Established in 1975, the company has grown from a single-truck operation into a multi-state provider of integrated waste management solutions. Casella offers a comprehensive range of services, including residential, commercial and industrial waste collection, transfer station operations, landfill disposal, recycling processing and organics management.

Through a network of solid waste transfer stations, recycling facilities and landfills, Casella serves communities primarily across the northeastern United States and parts of the mid-Atlantic region.

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