Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $233.42 and last traded at $232.57, with a volume of 116345 shares. The stock had previously closed at $230.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RSG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Republic Services from $240.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Argus set a $260.00 price target on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Republic Services from $239.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Republic Services from $217.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Republic Services from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.41.

Republic Services Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $72.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.74. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $212.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.65.

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

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Katharine Weymouth sold 1,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.27, for a total value of $400,186.93. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $189,222.33. This trade represents a 67.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.20, for a total value of $1,436,062.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,416 shares in the company, valued at $2,376,931.20. The trade was a 37.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Republic Services

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $979,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Republic Services by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 298,648 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $60,082,000 after purchasing an additional 12,660 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 113,252 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,784,000 after purchasing an additional 7,735 shares during the period. GTS Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in Republic Services by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 3,691 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $743,000 after buying an additional 1,512 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

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.