Wall Street Zen Upgrades Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) to Strong-Buy

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CLH. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Clean Harbors from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $364.00 price objective on shares of Clean Harbors in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Clean Harbors from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. William Blair downgraded Clean Harbors from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Clean Harbors from $335.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.29.

Clean Harbors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CLH opened at $289.84 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.87. Clean Harbors has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $335.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $312.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $298.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $3.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. Clean Harbors had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 18.27%. Clean Harbors’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Clean Harbors will post 10.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clean Harbors

In related news, Director Karyn Polito acquired 125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $314.83 per share, with a total value of $39,353.75. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,338,657.16. This trade represents a 3.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Eric W. Gerstenberg sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.34, for a total transaction of $803,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 56,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,249,862.62. This trade represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clean Harbors

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CLH. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new position in Clean Harbors during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Clean Harbors in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Clean Harbors by 317.6% in the 3rd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Clean Harbors during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clean Harbors during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $87,000. 90.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Clean Harbors

Clean Harbors, Inc. provides environmental, industrial and hazardous waste management services to businesses and government organizations. Its services include the collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, as well as industrial cleaning and maintenance. The company also offers emergency spill response and related environmental services. Through its Safety-Kleen operations, Clean Harbors collects and re-refines used oil and provides parts-cleaning and other environmental services to commercial and industrial customers.