Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) Rating Lowered to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Clean Harbors from “strong buy” to “buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $365.21.
• Clean Harbors reported strong quarterly results, posting $3.93 in EPS versus the $3.26 consensus estimate and $1.87 billion in revenue, up 20.7% year over year.
• The stock opened at $302.33, below its 52-week high of $335.94. Institutional investors own approximately 90.43% of the company, while recent insider transactions included stock sales by the CEO and a director.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Clean Harbors from $390.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Clean Harbors from $337.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Clean Harbors from $335.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. William Blair cut Clean Harbors from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised Clean Harbors from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $365.21.

Clean Harbors Price Performance

NYSE:CLH opened at $302.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's fifty day moving average is $315.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $297.71. Clean Harbors has a one year low of $201.34 and a one year high of $335.94.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $3.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.67. Clean Harbors had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 18.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. The business's revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Clean Harbors will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clean Harbors

In other news, CEO Eric W. Gerstenberg sold 2,500 shares of the business's 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 owned 56,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,249,862.62. The trade was a 4.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Andrea Robertson sold 789 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.01, for a total transaction of $247,753.89. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,819,495.79. This represents a 8.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 5.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clean Harbors

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLH. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Clean Harbors in the second quarter valued at about $1,516,521,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clean Harbors in the 2nd quarter valued at about $477,570,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Clean Harbors by 1.8% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 932,027 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $267,239,000 after acquiring an additional 16,747 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Clean Harbors by 10.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 778,441 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $223,202,000 after purchasing an additional 70,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Clean Harbors during the 2nd quarter worth about $142,801,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.43% of the company's stock.

Clean Harbors Company Profile

Clean Harbors, Inc provides environmental, energy and industrial services to customers across North America. The company serves a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, government, utilities, energy and transportation, helping customers manage hazardous and non-hazardous materials, maintain industrial facilities and respond to environmental emergencies.

Its services include hazardous waste collection, transportation, treatment and disposal; incineration; recycling and waste-to-fuel programs; wastewater treatment; and used-oil collection and re-refining.

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