Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Boosts Stock Position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 848,976 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 151,744 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $84,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in Casella Waste Systems in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,093,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.1% in the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,386,970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $336,055,000 after acquiring an additional 101,995 shares during the period. Seven Grand Managers LLC acquired a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the third quarter valued at $9,999,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Casella Waste Systems by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 425,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65,580 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,351,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CWST opened at $112.56 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 938.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 0.99. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.16 and a 52 week high of $112.85.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $411.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CWST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James raised their price objective on Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Casella Waste Systems has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.50.

Insider Activity at Casella Waste Systems

In related news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.81, for a total value of $184,781.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,252,088.85. This represents a 7.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 4.24% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems 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.