Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) Shares Purchased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,266,899 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,374 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $254,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of RSG. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Republic Services by 1.3% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 55,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,163,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Republic Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $72,000. National Pension Service boosted its position in Republic Services by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 318,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,993,000 after purchasing an additional 50,568 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Republic Services by 77.0% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,627 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,155,000 after buying an additional 15,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its position in Republic Services by 4.2% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 43,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,664,000 after buying an additional 1,758 shares during the period. 57.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Republic Services Stock Performance

NYSE:RSG opened at $235.66 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $217.74 and a 200-day moving average of $210.45. The firm has a market cap of $73.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Republic Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.91 and a twelve month high of $240.95.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion for 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%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on RSG shares. CIBC upgraded shares of 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. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Republic Services from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on Republic Services in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Republic Services from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.