Eastern Bank Sells 425 Shares of Republic Services, Inc. $RSG

Eastern Bank lowered its stake in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 12.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 425 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RSG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Republic Services by 75.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,988,000 after acquiring an additional 8,547 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Republic Services by 61.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 3,503 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Republic Services by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Republic Services by 193.5% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Republic Services by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,154 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Monday, September 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $257.00 target price on the stock. National Bankshares cut their target price on shares of Republic Services from $270.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Friday, September 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Republic Services from $280.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Republic Services from $268.00 to $263.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gregg Brummer sold 7,338 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.94, for a total transaction of $1,716,651.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $949,796.40. This represents a 64.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. bought 4,258 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $234.91 per share, with a total value of $1,000,246.78. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 109,816,832 shares in the company, valued at $25,797,072,005.12. This represents a 0.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Republic Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RSG opened at $225.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Republic Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.60 and a fifty-two week high of $258.75.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.01. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.27% and a net margin of 12.97%.The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. Republic Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Republic Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.820-6.900 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Republic Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. This is a positive change from Republic Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.98%.

Republic Services 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.