Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $127.00 to $129.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Casella Waste Systems traded as high as $115.07 and last traded at $114.93, with a volume of 276672 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $111.36.

CWST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CWST. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,606.7% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 124.4% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 276 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 156.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 171.6% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 364 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 3.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $107.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.81. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 958.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.04.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.25. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 3.04% and a net margin of 0.46%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

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