Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH) saw a significant decrease in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 587,400 shares, a decrease of 8.1% from the November 15th total of 639,400 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 275,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CLH shares. StockNews.com cut Clean Harbors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $252.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Clean Harbors in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $325.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Clean Harbors from $300.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Clean Harbors currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian P. Weber sold 861 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.31, for a total transaction of $224,987.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,507,703.26. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Eric W. Gerstenberg sold 6,051 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.42, for a total transaction of $1,515,291.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,937,625.94. This represents a 9.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,446 shares of company stock valued at $2,119,483 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clean Harbors

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Clean Harbors by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Clean Harbors by 8.4% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Clean Harbors by 10.5% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 528 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Clean Harbors by 11.8% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 491 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Clean Harbors by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.43% of the company’s stock.

Clean Harbors Price Performance

Shares of Clean Harbors stock traded down $8.03 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $239.45. The stock had a trading volume of 282,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 295,032. The firm has a market cap of $12.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18 and a beta of 1.22. Clean Harbors has a 12 month low of $161.39 and a 12 month high of $267.11. The business’s 50-day moving average is $252.10 and its 200 day moving average is $239.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.15 by ($0.03). Clean Harbors had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 7.19%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Clean Harbors will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

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.