HBK Investments L P Buys New Stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

HBK Investments L P bought a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 1.8% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,730 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 76.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 1.8% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.6% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $556,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

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 that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,252,088.85. The trade was a 7.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 price target (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.50.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of CWST opened at $112.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.55. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.16 and a fifty-two week high of $114.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.40. The company has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 935.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.99.

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 company had revenue of $411.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. 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.