UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Increases Position in Clean Harbors, Inc. $CLH

Key Points

• UBS AM significantly increased its stake in Clean Harbors, Inc., raising holdings by 127.6% to own 899,566 shares valued at approximately $177.3 million.
• Clean Harbors reported $2.36 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.03, despite a slight revenue decline of .2% year-over-year.
• Analysts have varied ratings for Clean Harbors, with price targets ranging from $240 to $280, reflecting a generally positive outlook for the stock.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH - Free Report) by 127.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 899,566 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 504,290 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned approximately 1.68% of Clean Harbors worth $177,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Clean Harbors by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,293,796 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,043,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,704 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Clean Harbors by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,751,478 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $403,085,000 after purchasing an additional 80,436 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its holdings in Clean Harbors by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 520,910 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $119,882,000 after purchasing an additional 92,785 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings 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 valued at $94,002,000 after purchasing an additional 48,447 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Clean Harbors by 2.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,426 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $89,962,000 after buying an additional 11,465 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $268.00 price objective on Clean Harbors and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. 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. Raymond James Financial raised 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a 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 issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clean Harbors presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $263.40.

Clean Harbors Price Performance

CLH traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $234.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 249,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 410,745. The stock has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.00 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50-day moving average price is $237.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.28. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $178.29 and a 12 month high of $267.11.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 last year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Clean Harbors, Inc. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Clean Harbors

In related news, CEO Michael Louis Battles bought 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $233.50 per share, for a total transaction of $467,000.00. Following the acquisition, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Andrea Robertson sold 836 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,310,232.32. This represents a 7.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company 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.