Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Shares Gap Down to $106.73

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $106.73, but opened at $101.36. Casella Waste Systems shares last traded at $101.50, with a volume of 647,409 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CWST. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price objective (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $106.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.75.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 5.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 325.97, a P/E/G ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.28.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $377.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $373.87 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 3.83% and a net margin of 1.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the 1st quarter valued at $91,317,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Casella Waste Systems by 277.1% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 723,405 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,523,000 after buying an additional 531,573 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,106,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 7.7% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,284,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $324,785,000 after buying an additional 235,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in Casella Waste Systems by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 751,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,228,000 after acquiring an additional 159,850 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.