Short Interest in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Grows By 33.2%

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,450,000 shares, a growth of 33.2% from the March 31st total of 1,840,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 475,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days. Currently, 4.0% of the company's shares are sold short.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CWST traded up $1.60 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $119.84. 188,703 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 365,839. Casella Waste Systems has a 1 year low of $91.01 and a 1 year high of $120.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 520.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $112.24 and a 200 day moving average of $109.40.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.08. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 4.15%. The company had revenue of $417.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Casella Waste Systems news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 2,000 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.67, for a total transaction of $237,340.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,414,578.49. The trade was a 8.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 4.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CWST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,110,529 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $646,555,000 after buying an additional 123,001 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 838,086 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,830,220 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $193,656,000 after purchasing an additional 13,678 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,644,476 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $174,002,000 after acquiring an additional 190,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,446,875 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $153,129,000 after acquiring an additional 15,917 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on CWST shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Casella Waste Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.67.

About Casella Waste Systems

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.