Clean Harbors, Inc. $CLH is Aperture Investors LLC's Largest Position

Key Points

• Aperture Investors LLC increased its stake in Clean Harbors, Inc. by 52.8% in Q1, making it the firm's largest position, now comprising about 3.6% of its investment portfolio.
• Clean Harbors reported $2.36 earnings per share for the recent quarter, slightly beating analysts' expectations, despite a revenue decline of 0.2% year-over-year.
• Analysts have variously upgraded or adjusted price targets for Clean Harbors, with UBS Group raising their target to $240 and BMO Capital Markets setting it at $268.

Aperture Investors LLC grew its position in Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH - Free Report) by 52.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 142,073 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 49,109 shares during the period. Clean Harbors makes up about 3.6% of Aperture Investors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Aperture Investors LLC owned about 0.27% of Clean Harbors worth $28,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Clean Harbors in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Clean Harbors in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Clean Harbors in the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Clean Harbors by 25.8% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 273 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Clean Harbors by 42.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 284 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. 90.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Clean Harbors Price Performance

Clean Harbors stock opened at $243.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21 and a beta of 1.18. The firm's fifty day moving average is $235.95 and its 200 day moving average is $220.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Clean Harbors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $178.29 and a 52-week high of $267.11.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Clean Harbors had a net margin of 6.48% and a return on equity of 14.82%. Clean Harbors's revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Clean Harbors, Inc. will post 7.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on CLH shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets set a $268.00 target price on shares of Clean Harbors and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Clean Harbors from $278.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Clean Harbors from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $263.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clean Harbors

In other news, CEO Eric W. Gerstenberg sold 8,076 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,626,147.37. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian P. Weber sold 3,035 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.17, for a total transaction of $689,460.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 54,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,391,669.16. The trade was a 5.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,840 shares of company stock valued at $2,903,497. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

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.

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