Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $178.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Clean Harbors from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Clean Harbors in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Clean Harbors from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Clean Harbors in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $216.40.

Clean Harbors Stock Performance

CLH traded up $1.80 during trading on Thursday, hitting $207.35. 330,570 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 310,847. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.01 and a beta of 1.24. Clean Harbors has a 1-year low of $132.92 and a 1-year high of $210.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $193.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Clean Harbors had a return on equity of 16.97% and a net margin of 6.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Clean Harbors will post 7.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Clean Harbors news, CEO Eric W. Gerstenberg sold 15,276 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.71, for a total transaction of $2,867,457.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,646,773.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Brian P. Weber sold 7,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.07, for a total value of $1,591,763.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 62,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,502,193.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric W. Gerstenberg sold 15,276 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.71, for a total transaction of $2,867,457.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,374 shares in the company, valued at $12,646,773.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,185 shares of company stock worth $4,819,554 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clean Harbors

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Clean Harbors by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Clean Harbors during the third quarter worth about $255,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Clean Harbors by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 456,888 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $76,465,000 after buying an additional 4,229 shares during the last quarter. Monument Capital Management boosted its stake in Clean Harbors by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 10,692 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,789,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Clean Harbors by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,179,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.43% of the company’s stock.

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.