AlphaQuest LLC Takes Position in Clean Harbors, Inc. $CLH

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC acquired 5,445 shares of Clean Harbors, Inc. valued at approximately $1,073,000 during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Pinebridge Investments L.P. and Adage Capital Partners, have increased their stakes in Clean Harbors, leading to 90.43% of the stock being owned by such entities.
• Insiders, including Director John R. Welch and CEO Eric W. Gerstenberg, have sold significant amounts of stock recently, with Welch selling 1,250 shares and Gerstenberg selling 8,076 shares, indicating a decrease in their ownership.

AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,445 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,073,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Clean Harbors by 2.7% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,634 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $913,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Clean Harbors by 16.2% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Clean Harbors by 18.6% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,310 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,638,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Tribune Investment Group LP bought a new position in Clean Harbors during the first quarter valued at about $12,812,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Clean Harbors by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,793 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CLH shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $254.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $268.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets set a $268.00 target price on shares of Clean Harbors and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clean Harbors has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $263.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Louis Battles purchased 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $233.50 per share, for a total transaction of $467,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 82,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,359,718.50. The trade was a 2.47% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Brian P. Weber sold 3,035 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.17, for a total transaction of $689,460.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 54,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,391,669.16. This trade represents a 5.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,840 shares of company stock valued at $2,903,497 over the last quarter. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Clean Harbors Price Performance

Shares of CLH stock traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $243.32. 88,203 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 412,217. The company has a market capitalization of $13.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.17 and a beta of 1.18. Clean Harbors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $178.29 and a 12-month high of $267.11. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $235.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

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

Clean Harbors 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.