222 Shares in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) Bought by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 222 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of RSG. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Republic Services by 437.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,814,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $364,449,000 after buying an additional 1,477,255 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Republic Services by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,004,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,205,883,000 after buying an additional 1,131,850 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Republic Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $184,827,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Republic Services by 19.4% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Republic Services by 544.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 545,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,580,000 after purchasing an additional 460,989 shares during the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RSG has been the subject of several research reports. 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 report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $211.00 to $238.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Republic Services from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Republic Services from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Republic Services from $235.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Republic Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.20, for a total value of $1,436,062.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,416 shares in the company, valued at $2,376,931.20. This trade represents a 37.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Republic Services Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Republic Services stock opened at $232.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.58. Republic Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.92 and a 52 week high of $240.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $224.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.75 billion, a PE ratio of 35.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.73.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.58 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter last 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 Announces Dividend

The business 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. 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 1.00%. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.75%.

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.