Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) Shares Sold by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,446 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $1,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of RSG. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,131,850 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Republic Services by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,507,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $903,316,000 after buying an additional 73,207 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $626,553,000 after acquiring an additional 509,116 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,546,088 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $509,462,000 after acquiring an additional 25,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,477,255 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RSG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Republic Services from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Republic Services from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $211.00 to $238.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Republic Services from $235.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Republic Services from $239.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Republic Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of Republic Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.20, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 37.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Republic Services Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of RSG stock opened at $234.28 on Friday. Republic Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.91 and a fifty-two week high of $240.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $218.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.84. The stock has a market cap of $73.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

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

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Republic Services’s payout ratio is currently 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.