Legal & General Group Plc Buys 90,340 Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 134.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 157,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,340 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $15,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 11,166.7% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,028 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $199,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the fourth quarter worth $899,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the fourth quarter worth $218,000. Associated Banc Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 3,126 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 337 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bradford John Helgeson sold 405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total transaction of $35,530.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 7,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,113.66. This trade represents a 5.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Casella sold 1,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total value of $153,070.88. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,795 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,877.15. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 19,422 shares of company stock valued at $1,729,647 over the last three months. 3.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CWST. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays raised Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $102.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.13.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Up 3.6%

NASDAQ CWST opened at $85.09 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.67. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.05 and a twelve month high of $118.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 773.62 and a beta of 0.77.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.10. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 5.19% and a net margin of 0.38%.The business had revenue of $457.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $454.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.