Welch & Forbes LLC Purchases New Position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Welch & Forbes LLC bought a new stake in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Republic Services by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its stake in Republic Services by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 96,531 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,919,000 after buying an additional 37,690 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Republic Services by 183.4% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,332,000 after buying an additional 5,226 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN increased its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 217.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 76,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,539,000 after purchasing an additional 52,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on RSG. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Republic Services from $173.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Republic Services from $202.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Republic Services from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Republic Services from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Republic Services from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.00.

Republic Services Stock Performance

NYSE RSG traded down $0.11 on Wednesday, reaching $188.45. 427,698 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,244,209. Republic Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.07 and a fifty-two week high of $196.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $59.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $188.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $172.87.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.10. Republic Services had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 11.81%. The business had revenue of $3.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.535 per share. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 2nd. Republic Services’s payout ratio is currently 37.54%.

Insider Activity at Republic Services

In other Republic Services news, CEO Ark Jon Vander sold 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.10, for a total value of $1,002,608.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,669,303.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Amanda Hodges sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.02, for a total transaction of $1,209,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 6,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,270,702.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ark Jon Vander sold 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.10, for a total value of $1,002,608.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,669,303.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Republic Services

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.