Republic Services, Inc. $RSG Shares Purchased by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 22.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,660 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $13,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RSG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 75.8% in 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. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 17,553 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,329,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 94,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,336,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 68.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 11,643 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,871,000 after acquiring an additional 4,729 shares during the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on RSG shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Republic Services in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Republic Services from $233.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Republic Services from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Argus downgraded shares of Republic Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Republic Services from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Republic Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $245.15.

Republic Services Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE RSG opened at $206.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $212.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.90. The company has a market capitalization of $63.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.43. Republic Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.41 and a 12 month high of $258.75.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Republic Services had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 18.57%. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Republic Services, Inc. will post 7.27 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 Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.15%.

Insider Activity at Republic Services

In related news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. bought 366,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $202.24 per share, with a total value of $74,019,840.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 110,315,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,310,304,199.68. This represents a 0.33% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 987,150 shares of company stock valued at $202,366,682. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

About Republic Services

Republic Services, Inc is a leading provider of non-hazardous solid waste and recycling services in the United States. The company offers a broad range of waste management solutions to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers, positioning itself as a full-service partner for everyday waste collection as well as specialized disposal needs.

Republic’s core operations include curbside and commercial collection, transfer and hauling, materials recovery and recycling facilities, and landfill disposal.