Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE:CLH - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of 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. Currently, 1.5% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 447,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Clean Harbors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLH traded down $8.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $190.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 894,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 332,161. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $212.46 and a 200-day moving average of $233.88. Clean Harbors has a 12 month low of $184.52 and a 12 month high of $267.11.

Clean Harbors (NYSE:CLH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.43 billion. Clean Harbors had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The company's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Clean Harbors will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Clean Harbors news, Director Lauren States sold 308 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.79, for a total value of $70,467.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,726,719.22. The trade was a 2.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Robert Speights sold 2,725 shares of Clean Harbors stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.44, for a total value of $518,949.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 40,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,619,123.52. This represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,341 shares of company stock worth $663,041. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clean Harbors

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in shares of Clean Harbors by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,056 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new stake in Clean Harbors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,452,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Clean Harbors during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $182,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its position in shares of Clean Harbors by 2,800.0% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 261 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Armis Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clean Harbors in the fourth quarter worth $327,000. Institutional investors own 90.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CLH. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Clean Harbors from $280.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Clean Harbors from $250.00 to $220.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Clean Harbors in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set a "buy" rating and a $325.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $268.00 target price on shares of Clean Harbors in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Clean Harbors has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $266.56.

About Clean Harbors

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.