Insider Selling: Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Director Sells 2,305 Shares of Stock

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Director Michael Burke sold 2,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.56, for a total value of $201,825.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,048 shares in the company, valued at $1,230,042.88. The trade was a 14.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

CWST stock traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $86.24. The stock had a trading volume of 449,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 785,640. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 784.07 and a beta of 0.77. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $74.05 and a 52-week high of $118.91.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $457.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.49 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 5.19% and a net margin of 0.38%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Argent Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,054.4% in the 1st quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 73,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,800,000 after acquiring an additional 66,765 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 1st quarter worth about $223,000. Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 1st quarter worth about $374,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,873,000 after purchasing an additional 15,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rithm Capital Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 1st quarter worth about $655,000. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

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.