Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST Stock Holdings Increased by Argent Capital Management LLC

Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 1,054.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 73,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,765 shares during the quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $5,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CWST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,574,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $643,945,000 after purchasing an additional 581,310 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,765,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $368,787,000 after purchasing an additional 56,914 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,804,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $222,507,000 after purchasing an additional 27,148 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,703,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $264,816,000 after purchasing an additional 300,102 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,488,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $243,678,000 after purchasing an additional 477,216 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ CWST opened at $89.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 815.62 and a beta of 0.74. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $74.05 and a one year high of $109.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.10. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 5.19% and a net margin of 0.38%.The firm had revenue of $457.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $454.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casella Waste Systems news, 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 transaction of $1,119,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 140,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,548,968.08. The trade was a 8.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.56, for a total transaction of $201,825.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,230,042.88. The trade was a 14.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, June 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays raised Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $102.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.12.

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.