"Clean Harbors (NYSE: CLH), the nation's largest hazardous waste firm, represents a great way to add some recession-resistance to your portfolio," says growth stock expert David Fessler.
The contributing editor to The Oxford Club adds, "This stock is also a way to get paid from cleaning up our nation's biggest environmental messes in the process." Here's the advisor's review.
"Clean Harbors is a one-stop clean-up shop for waste. We're talking hazardous waste, toxic chemicals, radioactive materials and biologic or infectious waste.
"With a superior portfolio of over 100 waste management facilities, Clean Harbors is North America's largest vertically integrated environmental services and hazardous waste-treatment company.
"It's involved in just about every aspect of the environmental sector, including disposal, transportation, specialty chemical packaging, emergency spill response, and industrial maintenance and cleaning services.
"Clean Harbors has few competitors, due to the substantial barriers to entry into the hazardous waste disposal business. Numerous federal, state, local and provincial permits must be obtained, and compliance costs are expensive.
"Clean Harbors' 45,000-strong customer base includes 325 of the Fortune 500 companies, most federal, state and local government agencies, as well as numerous smaller private companies.
"And with seemingly endless, recurring sources of hazardous waste, business – as you might expect – is booming.
"The company's third-quarter incinerator utilization rate was 93%. Revenues were up 11% to $273 million. And earnings clocked in at $31 million, up 21%. The most recent quarter was the latest in a string of banner ones.
"Even better, President Obama plans on ratcheting up spending on infrastructure and environmental projects, which includes increasing the funding for Superfund site cleanup."
Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a daily look at the latest market commentary and favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-16-2009 @ 12:33PM
drue said...
This article is misleading, I used to work for Clean Harbors and they are using a perceived strength (their percentage of disposal resources) to try and raise prices. Frankly I am surprised that the FCC did not step in under anti-trust laws with some of their acquisitions.
Their rational is this...we own most of the disposal facilities, therefore we should be able to charge whatever we want and people have to pay. The only problem is, waste disposal is already expensive, all they are doing is pushing their customers to their competition and toward other disposal alternatives, like recycling waste product into feedstock for other industries.
I would be careful calling this a buy, the companies that use their services are also feeling the heat, if they can't sell their products, and the waste disposal is too expensive it might be better for them to idle their plants or ship the waste overseas.