State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Cuts Stock Holdings in Clean Harbors, Inc. $CLH

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D has reduced its stake in Clean Harbors, Inc. by 10.4%, now holding 15,931 shares valued at approximately $3.14 million.
• Insider selling has been observed, with Director Alison A. Quirk and EVP Brian P. Weber selling shares totaling over $889,000 in recent transactions.
• Clean Harbors reported Q2 earnings of $2.36 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, although revenue fell slightly short of forecasts at $1.55 billion.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its position in Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH - Free Report) by 10.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,931 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,850 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Clean Harbors were worth $3,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Clean Harbors by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,372 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,044,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Clean Harbors by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,793 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Clean Harbors by 25.8% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Clean Harbors by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,703 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Clean Harbors by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 5,797 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. 90.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Clean Harbors Stock Up 1.6%

CLH stock traded up $3.8150 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $248.3750. 219,509 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 421,452. The company has a market cap of $13.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.88 and a beta of 1.18. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $234.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.58. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.03. The business 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%. Clean Harbors's quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Clean Harbors, Inc. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CLH shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Clean Harbors from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $268.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price 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. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $254.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, 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. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $263.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clean Harbors

In other Clean Harbors news, CEO Eric W. Gerstenberg sold 8,076 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.23, for a total transaction of $1,818,957.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,626,147.37. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian P. Weber sold 3,035 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.17, for a total transaction of $689,460.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 54,548 shares in the company, valued at $12,391,669.16. This represents a 5.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,112 shares of company stock worth $3,422,651 in the last ninety days. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.