Short Interest in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Expands By 7.6%

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,130,000 shares, an increase of 7.6% from the November 15th total of 1,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 381,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In related news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.81, for a total transaction of $184,781.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,252,088.85. This represents a 7.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CWST. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 3.1% in the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,386,970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $336,055,000 after buying an additional 101,995 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,739,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $173,035,000 after purchasing an additional 4,462 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.2% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,680,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $166,725,000 after purchasing an additional 51,516 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 487,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $142,393,000 after purchasing an additional 109,288 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair initiated coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Raymond James increased their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CWST traded down $1.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $105.70. 210,892 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 312,830. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.36 and a 200 day moving average of $103.52. Casella Waste Systems has a 1 year low of $80.04 and a 1 year high of $114.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 890.08, a P/E/G ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 1.02.

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

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.