Ranger Investment Management L.P. Acquires New Holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 330,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,045,000. Casella Waste Systems makes up about 2.0% of Ranger Investment Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 57.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 3,395 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 1,601.9% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 5,094 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 3,226.1% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,789,000 after purchasing an additional 67,749 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the second quarter worth about $63,000. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Casella Waste Systems from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Douglas R. Casella sold 15,157 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.05, for a total transaction of $1,380,044.85. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 91,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,329,618.20. The trade was a 14.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of Casella Waste Systems 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 sale, the director owned 14,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,230,042.88. The trade was a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,805 shares of company stock valued at $1,704,245. Company insiders own 3.78% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CWST opened at $92.01 on Monday. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.05 and a 12-month high of $107.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,022.45 and a beta of 0.74.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 5.32%. The firm had revenue of $543.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Casella Waste Systems Profile

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.