Swedbank AB Grows Stock Position in Clean Harbors, Inc. $CLH

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Clean Harbors, Inc. by 25% in Q1, owning 125,000 shares valued at approximately $24.6 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly raised their stakes in Clean Harbors, with Millennium Management increasing theirs by an astonishing 36,389.2% during the same period.
• Clean Harbors reported earnings of $2.36 per share for the last quarter, slightly beating expectations, but experienced a 0.2% year-over-year decline in revenue.

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH - Free Report) by 25.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 125,000 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 25,000 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.23% of Clean Harbors worth $24,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Clean Harbors in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Clean Harbors in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of Clean Harbors in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Clean Harbors by 2,800.0% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 261 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.43% of the company's stock.

Clean Harbors Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of CLH traded up $2.00 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $238.34. 119,198 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 409,575. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm's fifty day moving average is $238.00 and its 200-day moving average is $222.61. Clean Harbors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $178.29 and a 1 year high of $267.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Clean Harbors

In related news, Director Andrea Robertson sold 836 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.64, for a total value of $195,323.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,310,232.32. This represents a 7.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Louis Battles bought 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $233.50 per share, for a total transaction of $467,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 82,911 shares in the company, valued at $19,359,718.50. This trade represents a 2.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Clean Harbors from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets set a $268.00 target price on Clean Harbors and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Clean Harbors from $278.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Clean Harbors from $254.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a 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.com, Clean Harbors presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.40.

About Clean Harbors

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.