Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) Rating Increased to Buy at Citigroup

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) was upgraded by Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Finviz reports. The brokerage presently has a $346.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 15.70% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CLH. CJS Securities raised Clean Harbors to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays upped their price target on Clean Harbors from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Clean Harbors from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on Clean Harbors from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Clean Harbors from $290.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $303.27.

Clean Harbors Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:CLH opened at $299.06 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 2.00. Clean Harbors has a fifty-two week low of $179.47 and a fifty-two week high of $302.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $281.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.91. The stock has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a PE ratio of 41.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Clean Harbors had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 6.48%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Clean Harbors will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Marcy L. Reed sold 836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.94, for a total value of $240,717.84. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,081 shares in the company, valued at $1,463,023.14. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Eric J. Dugas sold 2,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.31, for a total value of $784,292.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 15,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,482,112.23. This trade represents a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 13,597 shares of company stock valued at $3,895,286 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Clean Harbors

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLH. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Clean Harbors in the 4th quarter valued at about $152,195,000. Durable Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Clean Harbors in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $133,217,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Clean Harbors by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,040,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,725,000 after buying an additional 569,388 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Clean Harbors by 148.3% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 384,494 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $89,287,000 after purchasing an additional 229,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Clean Harbors by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,376,088 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $557,146,000 after purchasing an additional 215,659 shares in the last quarter. 90.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Clean Harbors

Clean Harbors, Inc is a leading provider of environmental, energy and industrial services in North America. The company specializes in the collection, transportation and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes, emergency spill response and remediation, industrial cleaning and on-site field services. Its comprehensive service offering also includes chemical neutralization, drum crushing, high-pressure water blasting, tank cleaning and vacuum services designed to help customers meet stringent environmental regulations.

Founded in 1980 by Alan S.