Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Raises Position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 28,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Republic Services accounts for approximately 2.4% of Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $5,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Republic Services by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Access Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Republic Services by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Access Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Republic Services by 1.0% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in Republic Services by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Republic Services by 11.6% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 529 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RSG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Republic Services from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up previously from $244.00) on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $211.00 to $238.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong 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 $236.88.

Republic Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RSG opened at $235.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.73. Republic Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.92 and a 52 week high of $240.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $222.65 and a 200 day moving average of $211.95.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.20, for a total transaction 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 approximately $2,376,931.20. This represents a 37.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Republic Services 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.