Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH) Short Interest Up 28.0% in March

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 748,700 shares, an increase of 28.0% from the February 28th total of 585,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 447,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on CLH. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Clean Harbors from $280.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Clean Harbors from $250.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Clean Harbors in a report on Friday, December 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $325.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Clean Harbors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Clean Harbors from $256.00 to $254.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.56.

Clean Harbors Stock Performance

CLH stock opened at $205.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.09 billion, a PE ratio of 27.74 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.56. Clean Harbors has a 12-month low of $186.54 and a 12-month high of $267.11. 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 (NYSE:CLH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.19. Clean Harbors had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 6.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Clean Harbors will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Clean Harbors

In related news, CFO Eric J. Dugas acquired 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $191.38 per share, for a total transaction of $200,949.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,638,668.44. This represents a 4.53 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Speights sold 2,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.44, for a total value of $518,949.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 40,008 shares in the company, valued at $7,619,123.52. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,341 shares of company stock worth $663,041 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Clean Harbors

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Clean Harbors during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of Clean Harbors by 2,650.0% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Clean Harbors by 130.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Clean Harbors by 10,250.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 207 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Clean Harbors during the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. 90.43% of the stock is currently owned by 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.