California State Teachers Retirement System Grows Holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its Casella Waste Systems stake by 9,321.4% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 6.97 million shares worth approximately $676.3 million, or 10.96% of the company.
• Casella exceeded quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.40 versus $0.36 expected and revenue of $543.75 million, up 16.9% year over year. Shares recently opened at $89.91, within a 12-month range of $74.05 to $107.96.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $109.75, although company insiders sold 18,700 shares worth about $1.71 million over the past three months.

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) by 9,321.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,974,373 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,900,346 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 10.96% of Casella Waste Systems worth $676,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 3.9% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,975 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 301.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 662 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 86.5% in the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 468 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other Casella Waste Systems news, Director Michael Burke sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.26, for a total transaction of $104,786.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,299,441.66. This represents a 7.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Casella sold 15,157 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.05, for a total value of $1,380,044.85. Following the sale, the director directly owned 91,484 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,329,618.20. The trade was a 14.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,700 shares of company stock worth $1,709,494. Corporate insiders own 3.78% of the company's stock.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CWST opened at $89.91 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 999.11 and a beta of 0.74. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.05 and a twelve month high of $107.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $92.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 5.32%. The firm had revenue of $543.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $526.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. Casella Waste Systems's quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research raised Casella Waste Systems from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Casella Waste Systems from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.75.

About Casella Waste Systems

Casella Waste Systems, Inc is a regional solid waste services company headquartered in Rutland, Vermont. Founded in 1975, the company provides waste collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers.

Casella's services include curbside and commercial waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, transfer station operations, recycling of paper, cardboard, plastics and other materials, and organics recycling.

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