Republic Services, Inc. $RSG Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,016,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 81,300 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.97% of Republic Services worth $639,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RSG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Republic Services by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,107,360 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,384,757,000 after purchasing an additional 49,365 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Republic Services by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,765,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,857,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899,183 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Republic Services during the 4th quarter worth $617,165,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Republic Services by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,031,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $466,075,000 after purchasing an additional 114,291 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Republic Services by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,458,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $359,695,000 after purchasing an additional 76,593 shares during the period. 57.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RSG. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Republic Services from $240.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Argus cut shares of Republic Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Republic Services from $253.00 to $247.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Republic Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $251.00 to $248.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Republic Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.26.

Republic Services Price Performance

Republic Services stock opened at $209.93 on Wednesday. Republic Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.41 and a 52 week high of $253.38. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.59 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.41.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. Republic Services had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 18.57%. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Republic Services

In other news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. bought 366,000 shares of Republic Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $202.24 per share, for a total transaction of $74,019,840.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 110,315,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,310,304,199.68. This trade represents a 0.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 987,150 shares of company stock valued at $202,366,682. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.