Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Clean Harbors shares gapped down significantly, opening at $223.04 after closing at $238.29, and last traded at $231.39 with a volume of 154,769 shares.
• Analyst ratings show a mixed outlook, with Needham & Company lowering its price target to $255 while others revised prices downwards, indicating varied confidence in the stock's performance.
• The company reported earnings of $2.36 EPS for the last quarter, slightly exceeding expectations, but its quarterly revenue fell by 0.2% year-over-year.

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $238.29, but opened at $223.04. Clean Harbors shares last traded at $231.39, with a volume of 154,769 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CLH shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Clean Harbors from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets set a $268.00 price objective on shares of Clean Harbors and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Clean Harbors from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Clean Harbors from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clean Harbors currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $263.40.

Clean Harbors Stock Down 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89 and a beta of 1.18. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $229.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.12.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.03. Clean Harbors had a net margin of 6.48% and a return on equity of 14.82%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Clean Harbors, Inc. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Eric W. Gerstenberg sold 8,076 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.23, for a total value of $1,818,957.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,619 shares in the company, valued at $11,626,147.37. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John R. Welch sold 1,250 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.51, for a total transaction of $285,637.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,605,471.02. This trade represents a 9.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,112 shares of company stock valued at $3,416,406 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clean Harbors

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLH. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Clean Harbors during the first quarter worth $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Clean Harbors during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Clean Harbors during the first quarter worth $48,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Clean Harbors during the first quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Clean Harbors during the second quarter worth $48,000. 90.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.