Rathbones Group PLC Boosts Stake in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Rathbones Group PLC grew its position in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 77.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 20,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,849 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $2,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Republic Services by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,800,921 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,358,621,000 after buying an additional 168,696 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA grew its stake in shares of Republic Services by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 8,078,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,092,325,000 after buying an additional 738,378 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Republic Services by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,425,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $569,889,000 after buying an additional 37,823 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Republic Services by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,389,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $566,185,000 after buying an additional 158,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Republic Services by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,720,836 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $503,131,000 after buying an additional 92,014 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on RSG shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Republic Services in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on Republic Services from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Republic Services from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Republic Services from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Republic Services from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.00.

Republic Services Price Performance

NYSE RSG opened at $145.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.66. Republic Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $120.58 and a 1-year high of $156.65. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $149.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.66.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Republic Services had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 10.91%. Republic Services’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Republic Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 29th. This is a positive change from Republic Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Republic Services news, CMO Amanda Hodges sold 2,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.66, for a total value of $403,165.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $738,691.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Republic Services news, CMO Amanda Hodges sold 2,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.66, for a total value of $403,165.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $738,691.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Brian M. Delghiaccio sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.65, for a total value of $823,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 5,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $758,875.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Republic Services

Republic Services, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers environmental services in the United States. 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.