Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,850,000 shares, an increase of 23.3% from the February 28th total of 1,500,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 352,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Casella Waste Systems by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,577,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $272,705,000 after buying an additional 838,086 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems during the third quarter worth approximately $50,854,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 50.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,454,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $144,704,000 after purchasing an additional 487,661 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 4th quarter worth $43,785,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Casella Waste Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $31,326,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Casella Waste Systems Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ CWST traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $113.91. 170,016 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 329,421. The stock has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 495.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 2.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.07. Casella Waste Systems has a one year low of $86.41 and a one year high of $116.31.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Casella Waste Systems will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.