Casella Waste Systems, Inc. $CWST Stock Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 87.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 14,378 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 54.8% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Casella Waste Systems by 4.9% during the third quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,006 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 99.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of Casella Waste Systems stock opened at $93.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,037.12 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.23. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $74.05 and a 52-week high of $107.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $543.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.43 million. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 5.32% and a net margin of 0.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CWST. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $122.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Casella Waste Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.83.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In other news, Director Michael K. Burke sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.26, for a total transaction of $104,786.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,299,441.66. This trade represents a 7.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Douglas R. Casella sold 1,343 shares of Casella Waste Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.12, for a total transaction of $122,374.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 90,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,213,647.92. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 18,700 shares of company stock valued at $1,709,494 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.78% of the company’s stock.

About Casella Waste Systems

Casella Waste Systems, Inc is a regional solid waste services company founded in 1975 and headquartered in Rutland, Vermont. The company provides collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and organics services for residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers.

Casella operates an integrated network of solid waste management assets, including transfer stations, recycling facilities, landfills, composting and organics-processing operations, and resource-recovery facilities.