PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Republic Services, Inc. $RSG

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 54,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,554 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $11,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RSG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Republic Services by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,988,000 after buying an additional 8,547 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Republic Services by 23.2% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 17,553 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,329,000 after buying an additional 3,303 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Republic Services by 3.6% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,322,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Republic Services by 0.7% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 94,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,336,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in Republic Services by 68.4% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 11,643 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,871,000 after buying an additional 4,729 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Republic Services from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Republic Services from $240.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Argus cut Republic Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Republic Services from $253.00 to $247.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Republic Services from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. acquired 366,000 shares of Republic Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $202.24 per share, with a total value of $74,019,840.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 110,315,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,310,304,199.68. The trade was a 0.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have purchased a total of 987,150 shares of company stock worth $202,366,682 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Republic Services Price Performance

RSG opened at $208.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $213.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $214.83. Republic Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.41 and a twelve month high of $258.75.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Republic Services had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 18.57%. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Republic Services, Inc. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Republic Services’s payout ratio is currently 36.15%.

Republic Services Profile

Republic Services, Inc is a leading provider of non-hazardous solid waste and recycling services in the United States. The company offers a broad range of waste management solutions to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers, positioning itself as a full-service partner for everyday waste collection as well as specialized disposal needs.

Republic’s core operations include curbside and commercial collection, transfer and hauling, materials recovery and recycling facilities, and landfill disposal.