Topic: How To Invest

Q: Pat, what do you think of the prospects of Casella Waste Systems? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

A: Casella Waste Systems Inc., $79.68, symbol CWST on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 57.0 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; www.casella.com), is a Vermont-based waste management company that services nine U.S. states (Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland) through 64 solid waste collection operations, 29 recycling facilities, 8 disposal facilities, 3 landfill gas-to-energy facilities, and one landfill permitted to accept construction and demolition materials. Casella was founded in 1975 by Doug Casella, who used a pick-up truck to collect waste from customers in Rutland, Vermont, and nearby Killington. His brother John joined shortly after that. The firm went public in 1997 at $18 a share. In September 2023, Casella completed the acquisition of the assets of Consolidated Waste Services LLC for $219 million. That firm operates as Twin Bridges out of Clifton Park, New York. Twin Bridges’ facilities include two waste collection operations, a recently built transfer station, a “state-of-the-art” material recovery facility (MRF) with robotic technology, and an…