CWST Stock: Insider Activity, Filings & Research

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (CWST) — Drillr’s hub for CWST insider activity, SEC filings, earnings signals and AI research. Over the trailing 3 months, CWST insiders filed 0 open-market buys and 15 sales (SEC Form 4).

Sentiment

0/100

Buys (3m)

Sells (3m)

Net (3m)

-$1.8M

Insider trades by month Buys Sells

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May

Context3-month price -10.2%Institutions accumulating (13F)

Date	Insider	Type	Shares	Price
May 27, 2026	BURKE MICHAEL Kdirector	Sell	2,305	$87.56
May 22, 2026	Coletta Edmondofficer: PRESIDENT & CEO	Sell	4,907	$90.07
May 22, 2026	Coletta Edmondofficer: PRESIDENT & CEO	Sell	6,000	$89.03
May 22, 2026	Coletta Edmondofficer: PRESIDENT & CEO	Sell	1,593	$90.00
Mar 17, 2026	Rains Christopher Alanofficer: Sr. VP & Chief Revenue Officer	Grant	989	—
Mar 16, 2026	CASELLA JOHN Wdirector	Sell	1,744	$87.77
Mar 16, 2026	Steves Seanofficer: Sr VP & COO of SW Ops	Sell	97	$89.71
Mar 16, 2026	Helgeson Bradford Johnofficer: Executive VP and CFO	Grant	2,756	—
Mar 16, 2026	Drohan Kevinofficer: VP & CHIEF ACCOUNTING OFFICER	Sell	55	$89.52
Mar 16, 2026	Sayward Shelley E.officer: SENIOR VP & GENERAL COUNSEL	Sell	129	$89.71
Mar 16, 2026	Helgeson Bradford Johnofficer: Executive VP and CFO	Sell	405	$87.73
Mar 16, 2026	Coletta Edmondofficer: PRESIDENT & CEO	Sell	377	$89.80
Mar 16, 2026	Drohan Kevinofficer: VP & CHIEF ACCOUNTING OFFICER	Sell	85	$87.73
Mar 16, 2026	CASELLA JOHN Wdirector	Grant	5,513	—
Mar 16, 2026	Sayward Shelley E.officer: SENIOR VP & GENERAL COUNSEL	Sell	362	$87.73

Source: CWST SEC Form 4 filings, latest May 27, 2026. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.

Overview

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) is a vertically integrated solid waste services company founded in 1975 and headquartered in Rutland, Vermont. The company has grown from a small regional waste hauler to become one of the leading waste management companies in the northeastern United States, serving customers across 10 states. Since going public in 1997, Casella has expanded through strategic acquisitions and organic growth, crossing the $1 billion revenue milestone in 2022 and generating over $1.5 billion in revenue by 2024. The company operates a comprehensive network of collection routes, transfer stations, recycling facilities, and landfills that form an integrated waste management system.

Business

Casella operates in the waste management industry, which involves the collection, transportation, processing, and disposal of solid waste materials generated by residential, commercial, municipal, institutional, and industrial customers. The waste management industry is essential infrastructure that handles everything from household garbage to construction debris, ensuring proper disposal and recycling of materials while complying with environmental regulations. The company operates through two primary business segments. The Solid Waste segment represents approximately 85-90% of total revenues and includes collection services (picking up waste from customers using trucks), transfer stations (facilities where waste is consolidated before transport to final disposal), and disposal operations (primarily landfills where waste is permanently buried). The Resource Solutions segment accounts for roughly 10-15% of revenues and encompasses recycling operations (processing recyclable materials like paper, plastic, and metals), organics services (composting and processing organic waste), and commodity brokerage (buying and selling recyclable materials). Casella's infrastructure includes 50 solid waste collection operations, 65 transfer stations, 23 recycling facilities, 8 Subtitle D landfills (permitted for municipal solid waste), 3 landfill gas-to-energy facilities, and 1 construction and demolition landfill. This vertically integrated network allows the company to control the entire waste stream from collection to final disposal, creating operational synergies and cost efficiencies. The company also operates renewable natural gas facilities that capture methane from landfills and convert it to energy, representing a growing sustainability-focused revenue stream.

Revenue model

Casella generates revenue through multiple streams within its integrated waste management model. The primary revenue source is collection services, where customers pay monthly or periodic fees for waste pickup services. This includes residential customers (homeowners paying for curbside pickup), commercial customers (businesses paying for dumpster services), and municipal contracts (cities and towns contracting for waste collection). Collection pricing typically increases annually, with the company achieving 5-6% price increases in recent years. The company also generates revenue from disposal services at its landfills, charging tipping fees (typically $50-80 per ton) to waste haulers and other companies that bring waste for disposal. Landfill pricing has been increasing 3-5% annually, and the company benefits from owning scarce landfill capacity in the Northeast where environmental regulations make new landfill development extremely difficult. Resource Solutions revenue comes from processing fees charged to customers for recycling services, plus the sale of processed recyclable commodities like paper, plastic, and metals. However, commodity prices are volatile and subject to global market conditions, particularly demand from China and other international buyers. Several factors impact Casella's margins positively or negatively. Positive margin drivers include annual price increases that typically exceed inflation, operational efficiency improvements through fleet automation and route optimization, landfill internalization (directing more company-collected waste to company-owned landfills), and the scarcity value of landfill capacity in the Northeast. Negative margin pressures include labor cost inflation (the company faces driver shortages and wage pressure), fuel cost volatility, regulatory compliance costs, and volatile recycling commodity prices that can turn the Resource Solutions segment unprofitable during market downturns.

Competitive moat

Casella possesses a moderate to strong competitive moat based primarily on regulatory barriers and infrastructure advantages. The company's strongest moat comes from its landfill assets, particularly in the Northeast where environmental regulations, community opposition, and geological constraints make new landfill development extremely difficult and expensive. Existing landfills with remaining capacity and proper permits represent scarce, valuable assets that generate high returns and pricing power. The company also benefits from route density advantages in its core markets, where having established collection routes creates cost efficiencies and makes it difficult for competitors to profitably serve the same areas. Local municipal contracts and customer relationships built over decades provide some switching costs and customer stickiness. However, Casella's moat has limitations. The collection business faces competition from other regional waste haulers and national companies like Waste Management and Republic Services. While route density provides some protection, large competitors with greater scale and resources can compete aggressively for major contracts. The recycling business is particularly vulnerable to commodity price volatility and has limited differentiation, making it more cyclical and lower-margin. Potential disruption could come from regulatory changes affecting landfill operations, new waste-to-energy technologies that reduce landfill demand, or large national competitors expanding more aggressively into Casella's Northeast markets. However, the company's integrated model and regional market knowledge provide defensive advantages against potential entrants.

Risks & safety

Casella demonstrates a strong margin of safety with solid financial fundamentals and manageable risk profile. • Liquidity and Solvency: Strong cash position with $267 million in cash and short-term investments as of Q1 2025, plus $900 million total availability including undrawn credit facilities. Current ratio of 1.96 indicates solid short-term liquidity. • Debt Management: Conservative debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, well below industry peers. Management targets leverage around 3x EBITDA or below, providing financial flexibility for acquisitions and capital investments. • Cash Generation: Solid operating cash flow of $281 million in 2024, though free cash flow was lower at $78 million due to heavy capital expenditures for growth and fleet automation. • Valuation Metrics: EV/EBITDA of 23x appears elevated for a waste management company, suggesting limited valuation margin of safety at current levels. • Other Considerations: Stable, recession-resistant business model with essential service characteristics. However, exposure to economic cycles through construction and demolition waste volumes, and commodity price volatility in recycling operations.

Recent development

Over the past few years, Casella has executed an aggressive acquisition strategy, completing 8 acquisitions in 2024 alone with over $200 million in annualized revenue, expanding the company's geographic footprint into the Mid-Atlantic region and adding 10 states to its operating territory. The company maintains an active M&A pipeline of over $500-700 million in potential opportunities, focusing on tuck-in acquisitions that enhance route density and market presence. The company has made significant operational investments in fleet automation and technology, adding 40 automated trucks in 2025 and implementing route optimization systems. These investments aim to address labor shortages and improve operational efficiency. Casella has also invested heavily in recycling infrastructure, completing technology upgrades at facilities like Willimantic and Boston to improve processing capabilities and throughput. Sustainability initiatives have become a key focus, with the company developing renewable natural gas projects at multiple landfills in partnership with Waga Energy. These projects convert landfill methane into pipeline-quality natural gas, creating new revenue streams while reducing environmental impact. The company is also investing in PFAS (forever chemicals) processing technologies to address emerging regulatory requirements. Landfill internalization has emerged as a strategic priority, with management focusing on directing more company-collected waste to company-owned landfills to capture higher-margin disposal revenues. The company has also revamped its landfill sales organization to improve volume capture and pricing optimization.

CWST company profile · for informational purposes only — not investment advice.

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