Pacific Capital Partners Ltd Sells 35,000 Shares of Clean Harbors, Inc. $CLH

Key Points

• Pacific Capital Partners Ltd reduced its holdings in Clean Harbors, Inc. by 66.7% in the second quarter, now owning 17,500 shares valued at approximately $4.05 million.
• Several analysts have boosted their price targets for Clean Harbors, with UBS Group raising it from $220 to $240 and Raymond James increasing it from $278 to $280, indicating positive sentiment towards the stock.
• Clean Harbors reported a net margin of 6.48% and earnings per share of $2.36 for the most recent quarter, slightly beating analyst expectations.

Pacific Capital Partners Ltd reduced its position in shares of Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH - Free Report) by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,500 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 35,000 shares during the quarter. Clean Harbors accounts for approximately 3.8% of Pacific Capital Partners Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd's holdings in Clean Harbors were worth $4,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Clean Harbors by 30.9% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,293,796 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,043,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,704 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in Clean Harbors by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,751,478 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $403,085,000 after acquiring an additional 80,436 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Clean Harbors by 127.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 899,566 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $177,304,000 after acquiring an additional 504,290 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its position in Clean Harbors by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 520,910 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $119,882,000 after acquiring an additional 92,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in Clean Harbors by 11.1% during the first quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 483,253 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $94,002,000 after acquiring an additional 48,447 shares in the last quarter. 90.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets set a $268.00 price objective on shares of Clean Harbors and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Clean Harbors from $278.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $263.40.

Clean Harbors Stock Performance

Shares of CLH stock traded up $0.41 on Tuesday, hitting $235.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 456,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 297,961. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.45. The stock's 50 day moving average is $237.88 and its 200-day moving average is $222.52. Clean Harbors, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $178.29 and a fifty-two week high of $267.11. The company has a market capitalization of $12.62 billion, a PE ratio of 33.04 and a beta of 1.22.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business 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 company posted $2.46 earnings per share. Clean Harbors's revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Clean Harbors, Inc. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Clean Harbors

In other news, CEO Michael Louis Battles acquired 2,000 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $233.50 per share, for a total transaction of $467,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 82,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,359,718.50. This represents a 2.47% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Andrea Robertson sold 836 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.64, for a total transaction of $195,323.04. Following the sale, the director owned 9,888 shares in the company, valued at $2,310,232.32. The trade was a 7.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.