Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $89.17, but opened at $93.99. Casella Waste Systems shares last traded at $89.4110, with a volume of 96,080 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on 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. Zacks Research raised shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $120.00 target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.11.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $100.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 744.53 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Kevin Drohan sold 675 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $62,511.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,055.82. The trade was a 8.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John W. Casella sold 6,726 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.10, for a total transaction of $626,190.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,605,775.90. This trade represents a 19.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 11,213 shares of company stock worth $1,045,887 over the last ninety days. 3.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 10,865.8% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 990,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,040,000 after purchasing an additional 981,617 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 60.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,306,780 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $225,926,000 after buying an additional 871,761 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,106.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 867,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,067,000 after buying an additional 795,414 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 653.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 841,897 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,455,000 after buying an additional 730,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 581,310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

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.