Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $31.33 Million in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 296,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,326,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.47% of Casella Waste Systems as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 156.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CWST. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $113.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.75.

Casella Waste Systems Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CWST opened at $106.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 462.04, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $109.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.65. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.41 and a 12 month high of $116.31.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.