Wellington Management Group LLP Acquires 80,299 Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Key Points

• Wellington Management increased its Casella Waste Systems stake by 6.6%, acquiring 80,299 shares and bringing its holdings to 1.29 million shares, worth approximately $125.3 million. Institutional investors own 99.51% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Casella receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $109.75, despite recent target-price reductions from JPMorgan and UBS.
• Casella’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.40 versus a $0.36 estimate and revenue of $543.75 million, up 16.9% year over year. Meanwhile, company insiders sold 17,600 shares worth about $1.6 million over the past 90 days.

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,292,101 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 80,299 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 2.03% of Casella Waste Systems worth $125,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Riverbridge Partners LLC bought a new stake in Casella Waste Systems in the 1st quarter valued at $13,742,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,019.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,832 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 13,507 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 134.4% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 157,552 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,431,000 after buying an additional 90,340 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 124,356 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,179,000 after buying an additional 18,671 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,343,000. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on CWST. Zacks Research raised Casella Waste Systems from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.75.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In related news, Director Douglas R. Casella sold 15,157 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.05, for a total value of $1,380,044.85. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 91,484 shares in the company, valued at $8,329,618.20. This represents a 14.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael K. Burke sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $102,289.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,741 shares in the company, valued at $1,370,765.59. This represents a 6.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 17,600 shares of company stock worth $1,604,708 over the last 90 days. 3.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of CWST stock opened at $92.65 on Wednesday. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $74.05 and a 1 year high of $107.96. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $93.11 and its 200-day moving average is $88.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,029.56 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

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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