Swiss National Bank Raises Stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 122,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.19% of Casella Waste Systems worth $12,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 78,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,815,000 after buying an additional 36,573 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 8.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,430,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $142,393,000 after purchasing an additional 109,288 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 848,976 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,465,000 after purchasing an additional 151,744 shares during the period. HBK Investments L P purchased a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $497,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 607,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $64,328,000 after purchasing an additional 14,369 shares during the period. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.75.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CWST opened at $110.89 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.70. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.41 and a 52 week high of $116.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 482.13, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.25. Casella Waste Systems had a return on equity of 4.15% and a net margin of 0.87%. On average, analysts expect that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Casella Waste Systems Company Profile

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.