EP Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of RSG. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Republic Services by 416.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,562,420 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,082,209,000 after purchasing an additional 5,292,862 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Republic Services by 424.7% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,722,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $329,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,918 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Republic Services in the first quarter worth about $130,892,000. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Republic Services by 16.9% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,262,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $241,697,000 after purchasing an additional 182,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Republic Services by 235.4% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 255,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,819,000 after buying an additional 178,969 shares in the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RSG. StockNews.com cut Republic Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Republic Services from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Republic Services from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Republic Services from $219.00 to $214.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, CIBC lifted their target price on Republic Services from $196.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.00.

Republic Services Price Performance

Shares of Republic Services stock opened at $200.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $62.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $202.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.72. Republic Services, Inc. has a one year low of $140.23 and a one year high of $208.69.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Republic Services had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 12.11%. Equities analysts expect that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Republic Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This is a boost from Republic Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Republic Services’s payout ratio is 37.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Republic Services

In other Republic Services news, Director Tomago Collins sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.01, for a total value of $649,632.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,549,832.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Republic Services Company 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.