150,000 Shares in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Purchased by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 150,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,924,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned 0.24% of Casella Waste Systems as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWST. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 85.8% during the 1st quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 4,393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 2,029 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 1st quarter worth approximately $281,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 76.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 222.3% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 31,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,154,000 after purchasing an additional 21,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,433 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 0.7 %

CWST stock opened at $112.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 935.67, a PEG ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.55. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a one year low of $79.16 and a one year high of $114.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $103.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.40.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 3.04%. The company had revenue of $411.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,252,088.85. This represents a 7.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CWST shares. William Blair started coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. 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 research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.50.

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.