Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Receives $99.71 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the four ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $99.71.

Several brokerages have weighed in on CWST. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised Casella Waste Systems from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CWST traded down $1.62 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $97.25. The stock had a trading volume of 179,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,254. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 216.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 0.90. Casella Waste Systems has a 1 year low of $72.97 and a 1 year high of $100.29. The business's 50 day moving average price is $91.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.74.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.03). Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 5.81% and a net margin of 2.01%. The firm had revenue of $359.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $360.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. Casella Waste Systems's quarterly revenue was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems will post 0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Edmond Coletta sold 733 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.31, for a total transaction of $69,129.23. Following the transaction, the president now owns 170,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,078,534.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, President Edmond Coletta sold 733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.31, for a total value of $69,129.23. Following the transaction, the president now owns 170,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,078,534.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John W. Casella sold 1,673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.13, for a total value of $157,479.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,312,340.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,238 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,395. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CWST. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 7.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 238,043 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,865,000 after purchasing an additional 16,077 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the first quarter worth $244,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 54.9% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 25,964 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,276,000 after buying an additional 9,202 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 4.3% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 11,014 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the first quarter worth $453,000. Institutional investors own 99.51% of the company's stock.

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.