Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Invests $1.52 Million in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Key Points

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS bought a new stake in Casella Waste Systems in the fourth quarter, purchasing 15,474 shares worth about $1.52 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased or initiated positions, and the article notes that 99.51% of Casella Waste Systems shares are owned by institutions.
• Casella recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $0.20 EPS versus the $0.10 estimate, while analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $111.13.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,516,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Casella Waste Systems by 57.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,283 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 3,395 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Casella Waste Systems by 1,601.9% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,412 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 5,094 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3,226.1% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,849 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $7,789,000 after purchasing an additional 67,749 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bradford John Helgeson sold 405 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total transaction of $35,530.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 7,342 shares in the company, valued at $644,113.66. This represents a 5.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Casella sold 1,744 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $153,070.88. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,877.15. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,422 shares of company stock worth $1,729,647. 3.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

CWST opened at $85.90 on Monday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $83.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.05 and a twelve month high of $118.91. The firm has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 780.98 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CWST shares. Barclays upgraded Casella Waste Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 note on Monday, February 23rd. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.13.

About Casella Waste Systems

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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