Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $127.00 to $129.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Casella Waste Systems traded as high as $115.07 and last traded at $114.93, with a volume of 276672 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $111.36.

CWST has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Casella Waste Systems currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CWST. GTS Securities LLC bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $211,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 150,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,875,000 after acquiring an additional 16,458 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 20,118 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,544 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,173,000. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,276 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Up 3.3 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.81. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 958.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.25. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 3.04% and a net margin of 0.46%. Research analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.