JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reduced its stock holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 4.8%, now owning approximately 1,857,459 shares, which amounts to a value of $207.1 million.
• Several other hedge funds have increased their positions in Casella Waste Systems, with Wasatch Advisors LP leading with a 48.2% increase and now owning shares valued at $272.7 million.
• Stock analysts have a generally positive outlook on Casella Waste Systems, giving it an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and setting a price target of $123.17.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,857,459 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 93,591 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 2.93% of Casella Waste Systems worth $207,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,577,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $272,705,000 after acquiring an additional 838,086 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,402,322 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $148,380,000 after purchasing an additional 193,571 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 904,598 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $95,715,000 after purchasing an additional 30,153 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 786,478 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,217,000 after purchasing an additional 64,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 157.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 740,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $82,517,000 after purchasing an additional 452,776 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company's stock.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of CWST traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $99.34. The company had a trading volume of 530,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 602,065. The company has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 551.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $97.05 and a one year high of $121.24. The company's fifty day moving average price is $110.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.87.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $465.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.01 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 4.97% and a net margin of 0.64%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CWST. Raymond James Financial set a $125.00 target price on Casella Waste Systems and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.17.

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

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.