Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on CLH. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Clean Harbors from $245.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Clean Harbors from $223.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price target (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Clean Harbors in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Clean Harbors from $235.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Clean Harbors from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clean Harbors presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $242.40.

Clean Harbors Stock Performance

Shares of CLH opened at $238.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a market capitalization of $12.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.51 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.99. Clean Harbors has a 1 year low of $132.92 and a 1 year high of $251.65.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. Clean Harbors had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 17.12%. Clean Harbors’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Clean Harbors will post 7.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lauren States sold 309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.09, for a total value of $75,423.81. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,284,963.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Clean Harbors news, CEO Michael Louis Battles sold 10,000 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.74, for a total transaction of $2,457,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,955,400.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lauren States sold 309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.09, for a total value of $75,423.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,458 shares in the company, valued at $3,284,963.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Clean Harbors

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in Clean Harbors by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 2,457 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Clean Harbors by 365.7% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $187,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Clean Harbors by 230.2% during the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Clean Harbors by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 85,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,959,000 after purchasing an additional 12,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Clean Harbors by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 23,158 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.43% of the company’s stock.

Clean Harbors Company Profile

Clean Harbors, Inc provides environmental and industrial services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Environmental Services and Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions. The Environmental Services segment collects, transports, treats, and disposes hazardous and non-hazardous waste, such as resource recovery, physical treatment, fuel blending, incineration, landfill disposal, wastewater treatment, lab chemicals disposal, and explosives management services; and offers CleanPack services, including collection, identification, categorization, specialized packaging, transportation, and disposal of laboratory chemicals and household hazardous waste.