Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Given Outperform Rating at William Blair

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by William Blair in a report issued on Friday,RTT News reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $113.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.80.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 3.9 %

CWST stock traded up $4.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $110.89. 20,339 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 289,033. The stock has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 922.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Casella Waste Systems has a fifty-two week low of $84.45 and a fifty-two week high of $114.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $107.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.65.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.25. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 3.04%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CWST. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,577,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $272,705,000 after buying an additional 838,086 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,854,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 50.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,454,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $144,704,000 after acquiring an additional 487,661 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,785,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,326,000. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Casella Waste Systems

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.