Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Has $322.72 Million Holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,243,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 143,270 shares during the quarter. Casella Waste Systems accounts for about 4.4% of Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Casella Waste Systems worth $322,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 2.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 223,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,285,000 after buying an additional 6,206 shares in the last quarter. Seven Grand Managers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $9,999,000. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,798,000 after buying an additional 2,541 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 64.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CWST shares. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.25.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Casella Waste Systems stock traded up $2.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $99.94. 47,755 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 313,558. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.00 and a 12-month high of $109.08. The company has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 815.67, a PEG ratio of 8.07 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $102.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 3.42% and a net margin of 0.46%. The company had revenue of $411.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current 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.