Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Clean Harbors in a report on Friday, December 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $325.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Clean Harbors from $284.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Clean Harbors from $285.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $268.00 price objective on shares of Clean Harbors in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Clean Harbors from $256.00 to $254.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Clean Harbors presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.56.

Clean Harbors Stock Performance

Shares of CLH opened at $202.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $229.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $241.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Clean Harbors has a 52-week low of $184.51 and a 52-week high of $267.11.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.19. Clean Harbors had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. Clean Harbors’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Clean Harbors will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lauren States sold 308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.79, for a total value of $70,467.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,918 shares in the company, valued at $2,726,719.22. This represents a 2.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 924 shares of company stock worth $219,570 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clean Harbors

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clean Harbors in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,386,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in Clean Harbors in the fourth quarter worth approximately $846,000. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Clean Harbors by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 99,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,793,000 after buying an additional 4,240 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Clean Harbors by 44.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,781,000 after buying an additional 8,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in Clean Harbors in the third quarter worth approximately $926,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.