Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) Shares Sold by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 23,837 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $21,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Republic Services by 23.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,004,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,205,883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131,850 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,507,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $903,316,000 after purchasing an additional 73,207 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,129,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $626,553,000 after purchasing an additional 509,116 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 1.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 25,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,477,255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on RSG. CIBC upgraded shares of Republic Services from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $264.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Republic Services from $239.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Republic Services from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Republic Services in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Republic Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,376,931.20. The trade was a 37.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Republic Services Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:RSG opened at $234.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $73.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.16, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Republic Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.92 and a fifty-two week high of $240.95.

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

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Republic Services’s payout ratio is 35.75%.

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.