Atom Investors LP Purchases New Stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST

by · The Markets Daily

Atom Investors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 122,675 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,015,000. Casella Waste Systems makes up approximately 1.0% of Atom Investors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State of Wisconsin Investment Board raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 117,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,531,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,355 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 4,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 279,121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,337,000 after acquiring an additional 11,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 82.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 8,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 3,894 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CWST. Barclays raised Casella Waste Systems from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $101.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group cut their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial reiterated 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. Zacks Research cut Casella Waste Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.13.

Get Our Latest Analysis on CWST

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of CWST opened at $86.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 787.80 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $74.05 and a one year high of $118.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.58 and its 200-day moving average is $92.25.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.20 EPS 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael K. Burke sold 2,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.56, for a total transaction of $201,825.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,230,042.88. This trade 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total value of $1,119,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 140,118 shares in the company, valued at $12,548,968.08. This trade represents a 8.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Casella Waste Systems

(Free Report)

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.

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