Waverly Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Waverly Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 50.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,950 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RSG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Republic Services by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,590,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,740,083,000 after buying an additional 144,719 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,262,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,259,855,000 after acquiring an additional 218,729 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Republic Services by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,317,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,069,836,000 after purchasing an additional 499,237 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Republic Services by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,565,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $918,045,000 after purchasing an additional 57,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Republic Services in the fourth quarter valued at $553,039,000. 57.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Republic Services Price Performance

RSG stock opened at $252.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $79.00 billion, a PE ratio of 38.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $242.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.72. Republic Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.92 and a 12-month high of $253.76.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 12.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on RSG shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $232.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Argus set a $260.00 price target on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Republic Services from $265.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Republic Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Republic Services in a report on Friday, April 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.44.

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.