Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $104.80

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $104.80.

CWST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group downgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $122.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $106.00 price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CWST opened at $98.21 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.10. Casella Waste Systems has a 52-week low of $74.05 and a 52-week high of $107.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 1,091.34 and a beta of 0.71.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 5.32% and a net margin of 0.29%. The business had revenue of $543.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $526.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casella Waste Systems

In other Casella Waste Systems news, Director Douglas R. Casella sold 1,343 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.12, for a total transaction of $122,374.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 90,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,213,647.92. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael K. Burke sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.26, for a total value of $104,786.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,641 shares in the company, valued at $1,299,441.66. The trade was a 7.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 18,700 shares of company stock worth $1,709,494 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the second quarter worth $36,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 54.8% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the second quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 89.3% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

About Casella Waste Systems

Casella Waste Systems, Inc is a regional solid waste services company founded in 1975 and headquartered in Rutland, Vermont. The company provides collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and organics services for residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers.

Casella operates an integrated network of solid waste management assets, including transfer stations, recycling facilities, landfills, composting and organics-processing operations, and resource-recovery facilities.