Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $354.57.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Clean Harbors from $305.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Clean Harbors from $313.00 to $349.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Clean Harbors from $340.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Clean Harbors from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Clean Harbors in a research report on Thursday, July 30th.

Insider Activity at Clean Harbors

In other news, CEO Eric Gerstenberg sold 2,500 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.34, for a total value of $803,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 56,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,249,862.62. The trade was a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Andrea Robertson sold 789 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.01, for a total value of $247,753.89. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,979 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,495.79. This represents a 8.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clean Harbors

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CLH. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. raised its position in Clean Harbors by 94.4% in the first quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. now owns 16,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 8,252 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Clean Harbors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $938,000. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Clean Harbors by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 150,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,172,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Clean Harbors by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,376,088 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $557,146,000 after acquiring an additional 215,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Clean Harbors by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 932,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,239,000 after acquiring an additional 16,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.43% of the company’s stock.

Clean Harbors Stock Performance

Shares of CLH opened at $316.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.69 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $314.49 and a 200-day moving average of $301.10. Clean Harbors has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $335.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.80.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Clean Harbors had a return on equity of 15.65% and a net margin of 7.03%.Clean Harbors’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Clean Harbors will post 9.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Clean Harbors Company Profile

Clean Harbors, Inc provides environmental, energy and industrial services throughout the United States and Canada. The company manages hazardous and non-hazardous waste through services that include collection, transportation, treatment, disposal, recycling and incineration. It also provides emergency spill response, wastewater treatment and specialized environmental remediation.

Through its industrial services operations, Clean Harbors supports refineries, chemical plants, utilities, manufacturers and other industrial customers with maintenance, cleaning, turnaround and specialty services.