Hedge Funds Are Betting On Casella Waste Systems Inc. (CWST)

You probably know from experience that there is not as much information on small-cap companies as there is on large companies. Of course, this makes it really hard and difficult for individual investors to make a proper and accurate analysis of certain small-cap companies. However, well-known and successful hedge fund investors like Carl Icahn and George Soros hold the necessary resources and abilities to conduct an extensive stock analysis on small-cap stocks, which enable them to make millions of dollars by identifying potential winners within the small-cap galaxy of stocks. This represents the main reason why Insider Monkey takes notice of the hedge fund activity in these overlooked stocks.

Is Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) going to take off soon? Money managers are buying. The number of bullish hedge fund positions increased by 1 in recent months. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as KEYW Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:KEYW), Limoneira Company (NASDAQ:LMNR), and NVE Corporation (NASDAQ:NVEC) to gather more data points.

In the financial world there are a lot of signals stock traders have at their disposal to appraise stocks. Two of the best signals are hedge fund and insider trading moves. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can outclass the broader indices by a healthy margin (see the details here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a glance at the new action encompassing Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST).

How are hedge funds trading Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 8% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exist a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Portolan Capital Management, managed by George McCabe, holds the number one position in Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST). Portolan Capital Management has a $22.8 million position in the stock, comprising 3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Rutabaga Capital Management, managed by Peter Schliemann, which holds a $12.4 million position; 1.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other professional money managers with similar optimism include Charles Paquelet’s Skylands Capital, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Peter Keane’s Keane Capital Management.