Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 59,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,526 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $9,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Republic Services by 19.4% during the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN raised its position in shares of Republic Services by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Republic Services by 217.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 76,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,539,000 after buying an additional 52,104 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG raised its position in shares of Republic Services by 65.9% in the third quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 34,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,917,000 after buying an additional 13,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Republic Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,993,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $173.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Republic Services from $182.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Republic Services from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Republic Services in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Republic Services news, CEO Ark Jon Vander sold 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.10, for a total transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Republic Services Trading Up 0.1 %

RSG opened at $187.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $185.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Republic Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.33 and a 12-month high of $192.57.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Republic Services had a net margin of 11.57% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.535 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

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.