Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to Hold

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) was downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $113.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $115.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 4.79% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. William Blair began coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.80.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 2.7 %

CWST opened at $107.83 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $108.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.26. Casella Waste Systems has a 1 year low of $84.45 and a 1 year high of $114.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.55. The company has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of 898.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.03.

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). The company had revenue of $411.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.59 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 3.04% and a net margin of 0.46%. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casella Waste Systems

In related news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.81, for a total transaction of $184,781.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,085 shares in the company, valued at $2,252,088.85. This trade represents a 7.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CWST. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 108.0% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 66,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,579,000 after purchasing an additional 34,340 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 87.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 78,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,815,000 after buying an additional 36,573 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 8.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,430,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $142,393,000 after buying an additional 109,288 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 667.9% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 48,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,785,000 after buying an additional 41,950 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 861,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $85,476,000 after acquiring an additional 26,189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

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.