Insider Selling: Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) CEO Sells 988 Shares of Stock

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) CEO Edmond Coletta sold 988 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $86,756.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 152,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,401,386.58. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Edmond Coletta also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, March 12th, Edmond Coletta sold 377 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.80, for a total value of $33,854.60.
• On Friday, February 27th, Edmond Coletta sold 3,812 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.70, for a total value of $357,184.40.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of CWST traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $88.46. 537,239 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 760,229. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.22 and a 12-month high of $121.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 737.23 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CWST shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $120.00 price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.11.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,574,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $643,945,000 after purchasing an additional 581,310 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,765,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $368,787,000 after purchasing an additional 56,914 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,876,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $272,881,000 after purchasing an additional 195,947 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,703,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $264,816,000 after buying an additional 300,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,488,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $243,678,000 after buying an additional 477,216 shares during the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casella Waste Systems Company 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.