Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) by 41.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 495,294 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 144,212 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Casella Waste Systems were worth $50,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Casella Waste Systems by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,386,970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $336,055,000 after purchasing an additional 101,995 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 0.3% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,739,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $173,035,000 after buying an additional 4,462 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 3.2% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,680,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $166,725,000 after buying an additional 51,516 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,454,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $144,704,000 after buying an additional 487,661 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,430,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $142,393,000 after acquiring an additional 109,288 shares in the last quarter. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on CWST. William Blair began coverage on Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.00.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Down 0.3 %

CWST stock opened at $106.50 on Wednesday. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.04 and a fifty-two week high of $114.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $106.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 887.50, a PEG ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 1.02.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $411.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.59 million. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 3.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Casella Waste Systems

In related news, SVP Paul Ligon sold 1,730 shares of the company’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 value of $184,781.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through this hyperlink. 4.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.