Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires Shares of 17,588 Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 17,588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,750,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 108.0% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 66,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,579,000 after acquiring an additional 34,340 shares during the period. Williams Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,427,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 667.9% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 48,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 41,950 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 3.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 861,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,476,000 after purchasing an additional 26,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the third quarter valued at $562,000. 99.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CWST shares. William Blair initiated coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 target price (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.50.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CWST opened at $113.21 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $103.64 and a 200 day moving average of $102.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 943.42, a P/E/G ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.99. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.47 and a 12 month high of $114.56.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 3.04%. The firm had revenue of $411.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.81, for a total transaction of $184,781.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,252,088.85. This trade represents a 7.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 4.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Casella Waste Systems

Casella Waste Systems, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a vertically integrated solid waste services company in the United States. It offers resource management services primarily in the areas of solid waste collection and disposal, transfer, recycling, and organics services to residential, commercial, municipal, institutional, and industrial customers.