California State Teachers Retirement System Trims Position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its Casella Waste Systems stake by 2.8%, selling 2,104 shares and retaining 71,923 shares valued at approximately $6.97 million. Institutional investors collectively own 99.51% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with Casella carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $109.75. Price targets range from $104 to $122 among recent analyst updates.
• Casella exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.40 in EPS versus the $0.36 estimate and revenue of $543.75 million, up 16.9% year over year. Shares recently traded at $91.22, below the consensus target.

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,923 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,104 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.11% of Casella Waste Systems worth $6,974,373 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CWST. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,531,594 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $342,459,000 after acquiring an additional 949,374 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Casella Waste Systems by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,804,475 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $222,507,000 after purchasing an additional 27,148 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,488,034 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $243,678,000 after purchasing an additional 477,216 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,998,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $195,724,000 after acquiring an additional 41,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,665,226 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $163,092,000 after buying an additional 17,319 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, Director Michael K. Burke sold 1,100 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.26, for a total value of $104,786.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,299,441.66. The trade was a 7.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas R. Casella sold 1,343 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.12, for a total transaction of $122,374.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 90,141 shares in the company, valued at $8,213,647.92. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,700 shares of company stock worth $1,709,494. 3.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research raised Casella Waste Systems from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.75.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

CWST stock traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $91.22. 181,011 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 709,831. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $74.05 and a one year high of $107.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.60 and a 200 day simple 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. The company has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,014.45 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

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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