Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CLH. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Clean Harbors from $285.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $268.00 target price on shares of Clean Harbors in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Clean Harbors from $290.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Clean Harbors from $250.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Clean Harbors from $284.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Clean Harbors has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.56.

Clean Harbors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CLH traded up $3.55 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $200.65. 500,599 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 327,520. The stock has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $215.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Clean Harbors has a 12-month low of $186.54 and a 12-month high of $267.11.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.19. Clean Harbors had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 6.83%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Clean Harbors’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Clean Harbors will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Eric J. Dugas bought 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $191.38 per share, for a total transaction of $200,949.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,638,668.44. This trade represents a 4.53 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lauren States sold 308 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.04, for a total transaction of $73,624.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,922,503.04. The trade was a 2.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,341 shares of company stock worth $663,041. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clean Harbors

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Reliant Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Clean Harbors during the fourth quarter worth about $4,386,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clean Harbors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $846,000. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Clean Harbors by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 99,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,240 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Clean Harbors by 44.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,781,000 after purchasing an additional 8,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Clean Harbors by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,510,363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $365,070,000 after purchasing an additional 21,662 shares during the period. 90.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.