Earnest Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Earnest Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,195,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 68,956 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $113,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CWST. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 301.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 180.2% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA grew its position in Casella Waste Systems by 66.7% during the third quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA now owns 500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casella Waste Systems

In other Casella Waste Systems news, President Edmond Coletta sold 3,812 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.70, for a total transaction of $357,184.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 147,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,782,426.70. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Kevin Drohan sold 675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $62,511.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,055.82. This trade represents a 8.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 11,213 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,887 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Casella Waste Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.11.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $88.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $82.22 and a one year high of $121.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 734.14 and a beta of 0.80.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.08. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 0.43%.The firm had revenue of $469.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

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.