Amundi Has $209.39 Million Position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Amundi trimmed its position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,012,062 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 132,734 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $209,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of RSG. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 17,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,586,000 after buying an additional 4,827 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Republic Services by 13.0% during the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 114,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,013,000 after acquiring an additional 13,138 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Republic Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,430,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Republic Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,102,000. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in Republic Services by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 44,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,879,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $1,436,062.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,376,931.20. This trade represents a 37.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Republic Services Trading Up 1.2 %

RSG stock opened at $234.28 on Monday. Republic Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.91 and a 52 week high of $240.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.88. The company has a market capitalization of $73.16 billion, a PE ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RSG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $219.00 to $237.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Republic Services from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Republic Services in a report on Friday, February 14th. CIBC raised Republic Services from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $264.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $211.00 to $238.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.88.

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.