Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Short Interest Up 10.8% in December

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,250,000 shares, an increase of 10.8% from the December 15th total of 2,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 309,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Casella Waste Systems news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the business’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 owns 21,085 shares in the company, valued at $2,252,088.85. The trade was a 7.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 4.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Casella Waste Systems

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 10,436 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 5.9% during the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,633 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

CWST traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $111.49. The stock had a trading volume of 234,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,703. Casella Waste Systems has a 1-year low of $83.50 and a 1-year high of $114.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 929.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $108.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.06. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.27 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $411.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, William Blair started coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.00.

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.