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

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH - Get Free Report) 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. Based on an average daily volume of 275,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company's shares are short sold.

Clean Harbors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CLH traded up $3.09 during trading on Monday, reaching $247.37. 205,697 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 295,152. The stock has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.21 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $252.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.55. 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 has a 12-month low of $161.39 and a 12-month high of $267.11.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Clean Harbors had a net margin of 7.19% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The company's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Clean Harbors will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lauren States sold 308 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.74, for a total transaction of $80,307.92. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,428,731. This trade represents a 2.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Eric W. Gerstenberg sold 6,051 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.42, for a total value of $1,515,291.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,657 shares of the company's stock, 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 have sold a total of 8,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,005 over the last quarter. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clean Harbors

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Clean Harbors by 30.6% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,058,415 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $239,361,000 after purchasing an additional 248,240 shares during the period. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. purchased a new position in shares of Clean Harbors during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,968,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Clean Harbors by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,747,215 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $422,319,000 after acquiring an additional 187,140 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Clean Harbors by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,451,751 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $834,323,000 after acquiring an additional 100,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Clean Harbors by 20.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 537,274 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $121,505,000 after acquiring an additional 90,756 shares during the period. 90.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CLH. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Clean Harbors from $274.00 to $268.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Clean Harbors from $300.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut Clean Harbors from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Clean Harbors from $252.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Clean Harbors from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Clean Harbors currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $271.00.

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.