Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Share Price Breaks Below 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $90.31 and traded as low as $87.93. Casella Waste Systems shares last traded at $88.53, with a volume of 691,950 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CWST shares. UBS Group cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $122.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Zacks Research upgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Casella Waste Systems from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Casella Waste Systems from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.83.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $88.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.23. The stock has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,037.12 and a beta of 0.78.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $543.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.43 million. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 5.32%. The business’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, Director Douglas R. Casella sold 1,343 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.12, for a total value of $122,374.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 90,141 shares in the company, valued at $8,213,647.92. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael K. Burke sold 1,100 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.26, for a total transaction of $104,786.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,299,441.66. The trade was a 7.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 18,700 shares of company stock worth $1,709,494 over the last 90 days. 3.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CWST. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 36.8% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,531,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $342,459,000 after acquiring an additional 949,374 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 5,715.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 387,531 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,747,000 after purchasing an additional 380,867 shares during the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 2nd quarter worth $32,045,000. Summit Creek Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Casella Waste Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,564,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 6.6% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,292,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $125,295,000 after acquiring an additional 80,299 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

Casella Waste Systems, Inc is a regional solid waste services company founded in 1975 and headquartered in Rutland, Vermont. The company provides collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and organics services for residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers.

Casella operates an integrated network of solid waste management assets, including transfer stations, recycling facilities, landfills, composting and organics-processing operations, and resource-recovery facilities.