Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Raised to Buy at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST – Get Rating) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $95.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $90.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Casella Waste Systems from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Tuesday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $94.00.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CWST opened at $82.07 on Tuesday. Casella Waste Systems has a twelve month low of $63.90 and a twelve month high of $92.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $81.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.92. The company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 78.91, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.07. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 12.97% and a net margin of 5.10%. The firm had revenue of $295.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casella Waste Systems

In other Casella Waste Systems news, Director Douglas R. Casella sold 26,947 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total transaction of $2,180,820.71. Following the sale, the director now owns 181,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,715,178.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO John W. Casella sold 19,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.66, for a total value of $1,582,979.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 11,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $947,337.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas R. Casella sold 26,947 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total transaction of $2,180,820.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 181,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,715,178.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,385 shares of company stock valued at $5,632,245 in the last 90 days. 5.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 7.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 243,472 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,598,000 after purchasing an additional 16,490 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the third quarter worth $2,003,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 45.7% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 18,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 5,659 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the third quarter worth $1,065,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 5.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 34,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.77% of the company’s stock.

About Casella Waste Systems

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Casella Waste Systems, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a vertically integrated solid waste services company in the northeastern 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.