Cutler Investment Counsel LLC Lowers Stake in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC reduced its position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 88,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,199 shares during the period. Republic Services comprises approximately 2.1% of Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $14,573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in RSG. Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Republic Services by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,926,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Republic Services by 2.2% in the third quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 3,209 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Republic Services by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Republic Services by 1.6% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,504 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ark Jon Vander sold 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.10, for a total value of $1,002,608.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,669,303.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Republic Services Stock Up 0.5 %

RSG traded up $0.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $189.94. 552,859 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,187,699. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $59.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.49. Republic Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.57.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The business services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $3.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Republic Services had a net margin of 11.57% and a return on equity of 17.32%. Republic Services’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.01 EPS for the current year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were paid a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. Republic Services’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RSG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Republic Services from $182.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Republic Services from $173.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup raised their target price on Republic Services from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group cut shares of Republic Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $175.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $213.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.77.

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.