Fisher Asset Management LLC Purchases 238 Shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $1,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,004,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,205,883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131,850 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Republic Services by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,507,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $903,316,000 after buying an additional 73,207 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,129,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $626,553,000 after acquiring an additional 509,116 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,546,088 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $509,462,000 after acquiring an additional 25,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Republic Services by 437.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,814,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $364,449,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477,255 shares in the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RSG. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Republic Services from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Republic Services from $240.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Argus set a $260.00 target price on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group increased their target price on Republic Services from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Republic Services from $239.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.88.

Republic Services Price Performance

NYSE:RSG opened at $235.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $217.74 and a 200-day moving average of $210.45. Republic Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.91 and a 52 week high of $240.95. The company has a market capitalization of $73.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.74.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.21. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 12.74%. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Republic Services’s payout ratio is presently 35.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of Republic Services stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.20, for a total transaction of $1,436,062.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,376,931.20. This trade represents a 37.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Republic Services Company Profile

Republic Services, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers environmental services in the United States and Canada. It is involved in the collection and processing of recyclable, solid waste, and industrial waste materials; transportation and disposal of non-hazardous and hazardous waste streams; and other environmental solutions.