Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) Short Interest Up 23.3% in March

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) was the target of a large increase in short interest in 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 shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 352,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CWST opened at $114.29 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.12. 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 company has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a PE ratio of 496.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.05. Casella Waste Systems has a 12 month low of $86.41 and a 12 month high of $116.31.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Casella Waste Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,606.7% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 124.4% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 276 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Casella Waste Systems by 156.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 171.6% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 364 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

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.