Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Invests $273,000 in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Republic Services by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 239,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,760,000 after purchasing an additional 19,414 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Republic Services by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,137,000 after buying an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in Republic Services by 264.3% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 8,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 6,415 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Republic Services by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,254,878 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,494,714,000 after buying an additional 101,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis grew its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 78.6% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 27,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,333,000 after acquiring an additional 12,260 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Republic Services from $219.00 to $214.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Republic Services from $208.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Republic Services from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Scotiabank began coverage on Republic Services in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $224.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Republic Services from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.71.

Republic Services Price Performance

Shares of RSG stock opened at $212.24 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $203.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.53. Republic Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.83 and a 52-week high of $214.96. The stock has a market cap of $66.46 billion, a PE ratio of 33.96, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.20. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.18% and a net margin of 12.46%. The business had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. Republic Services’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.24 EPS for the current year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Republic Services’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Tomago Collins sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.01, for a total transaction of $649,632.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,549,832.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Republic Services Company Profile

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.