Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $2.20 Million Position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the first quarter, buying 27,700 shares valued at about $2.2 million.
• Institutional ownership in CWST remains extremely high at 99.51%, with several large funds, including Vanguard and State Street, also increasing their stakes.
• Analyst opinions are mixed but lean positive: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus with a $110.12 price target, even as some firms recently cut ratings or price targets and company insiders sold shares.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 27,700 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,198,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 10,865.8% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 990,651 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,040,000 after purchasing an additional 981,617 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 60.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,306,780 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $225,926,000 after purchasing an additional 871,761 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 1,106.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 867,285 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $100,067,000 after purchasing an additional 795,414 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 653.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 841,897 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $82,455,000 after buying an additional 730,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 581,310 shares during the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CWST shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, May 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Barclays raised Casella Waste Systems from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Casella Waste Systems from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $110.12.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In other Casella Waste Systems news, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.56, for a total value of $201,825.80. Following the sale, the director owned 14,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,230,042.88. This represents a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edmond Coletta sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total value of $1,119,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 140,118 shares in the company, valued at $12,548,968.08. This trade represents a 8.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.78% of the company's stock.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of CWST opened at $94.28 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm's 50-day moving average is $85.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.81. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.05 and a twelve month high of $116.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 857.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $457.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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