Nicholas Company Inc. Increases Stock Position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Nicholas Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,710 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc. owned 0.13% of Casella Waste Systems worth $7,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fenimore Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 117,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,267 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 11,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 5,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS acquired a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter worth $4,246,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays raised Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $102.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given 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 price target of $111.13.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, CEO John W. Casella sold 6,726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.10, for a total value of $626,190.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 27,989 shares in the company, valued at $2,605,775.90. This trade represents a 19.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bradford John Helgeson sold 405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total value of $35,530.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 7,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,113.66. This represents a 5.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,830 shares of company stock worth $1,454,208. Corporate insiders own 3.78% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CWST stock opened at $85.44 on Monday. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.05 and a fifty-two week high of $119.71. The stock has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 776.80 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $457.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $454.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.