Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Rating Lowered to Sell at Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday, July 19th.

According to Zacks, “Casella Waste Systems, Inc. is a regional, integrated solid waste services company that provides collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services, generates steam and manufactures finished products utilizing recyclable materials primarily throughout the eastern portion of the United States and parts of Canada. The Company also markets recyclable metals, aluminum, plastics, paper and corrugated cardboard all processed at its facilities and recyclables purchased from third parties. “

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BidaskClub cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Barclays PLC assumed coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, June 23rd. They set an overweight rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $16.29.

Casella Waste Systems (CWST) traded down 1.17% during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.92. 211,837 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.54 and a 200-day moving average of $14.09. The stock has a market cap of $708.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1301.54 and a beta of 0.56. Casella Waste Systems has a 52-week low of $8.75 and a 52-week high of $17.73.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $133.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.33 million. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.09% and a negative return on equity of 73.05%. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.19) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems will post $0.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas R. Casella sold 2,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.82, for a total value of $36,432.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 739,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,440,290.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John W. Casella sold 7,817 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.82, for a total transaction of $131,481.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 507,912 shares in the company, valued at $8,543,079.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,102 shares of company stock valued at $268,106. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the first quarter valued at $144,000. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the first quarter valued at $157,000. Simplex Trading LLC boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 596.4% in the second quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 9,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 8,505 shares during the period. Karp Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the first quarter valued at about $163,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. purchased a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the first quarter valued at about $164,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

Casella Waste Systems, Inc is a solid waste services company. The Company provides resource management services to residential, commercial, municipal and industrial customers, primarily in the areas of solid waste collection and disposal, transfer, recycling and organics services. It manages its solid waste operations on a geographic basis through two regional operating segments: Eastern and Western regions, each of which provides a range of solid waste services, and its recycling and commodity brokerage operations through its Recycling segment.

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