Clean Harbors, Inc. $CLH Shares Sold by Groupe la Francaise

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise reduced its stake in Clean Harbors, Inc. by 50.3% during the first quarter, now owning 8,380 shares worth approximately $1.67 million.
• Insider trading showed a 5.90% reduction in ownership from Robert Speights, while CEO Michael Louis Battles increased his position by 2.47% by purchasing 2,000 shares.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their target prices for Clean Harbors, with ratings ranging from “Strong Buy” to “Hold”, indicating strong market confidence with an average target price of $263.40.

Groupe la Francaise lessened its holdings in shares of Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH - Free Report) by 50.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,380 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,495 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in Clean Harbors were worth $1,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Clean Harbors in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Clean Harbors in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Clean Harbors in the first quarter worth $48,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Clean Harbors by 25.8% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 273 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Clean Harbors by 42.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 284 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. 90.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Clean Harbors Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:CLH traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $241.86. 197,091 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 412,812. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98 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. Clean Harbors, Inc. has a 12-month low of $178.29 and a 12-month high of $267.11. 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 issued its 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 firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Clean Harbors had a net margin of 6.48% and a return on equity of 14.82%. The business's revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Clean Harbors, Inc. will post 7.89 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Clean Harbors from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Clean Harbors from $254.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Clean Harbors from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial lifted 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 note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Clean Harbors from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clean Harbors has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.40.

Insider Activity

In other Clean Harbors news, Director Alison A. Quirk sold 893 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.69, for a total transaction of $199,755.17. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,148.82. This represents a 23.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Andrea Robertson sold 836 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.64, for a total value of $195,323.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,310,232.32. This trade represents a 7.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,840 shares of company stock worth $2,903,497 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

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.