Capital International Investors Acquires 41,447 Shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,998,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,447 shares during the period. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $195,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,665,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $163,092,000 after buying an additional 17,319 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $226,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 39,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,899,000 after buying an additional 2,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 60.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 408,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,978,000 after buying an additional 154,494 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ CWST opened at $84.58 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.50. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.05 and a fifty-two week high of $118.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 768.98 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.10. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.38% and a return on equity of 5.19%. The business had revenue of $457.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. Casella Waste Systems’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Casella Waste Systems news, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 14,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,230,042.88. This represents a 14.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edmond Coletta sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $1,119,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 140,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,548,968.08. This represents a 8.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 19,422 shares of company stock worth $1,729,647 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.