Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $38.88 Million Stock Position in Republic Services, Inc. $RSG

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 183,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,998 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Republic Services worth $38,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RSG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Republic Services by 75.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,988,000 after purchasing an additional 8,547 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 23.2% during the 2nd 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 period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 3.6% during the 2nd 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 period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 0.7% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 68.4% during the 2nd 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 period. 57.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Republic Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Republic Services from $251.00 to $248.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Republic Services from $253.00 to $247.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Republic Services from $240.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Republic Services from $242.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Republic Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.26.

Republic Services Trading Up 2.4%

NYSE:RSG opened at $209.93 on Wednesday. Republic Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.41 and a fifty-two week high of $253.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.59 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.67.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.57% and a net margin of 13.00%.The business had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. Republic Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Republic Services, Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. bought 60,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $213.31 per share, for a total transaction of $12,947,917.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 110,803,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,635,597,400.42. The trade was a 0.05% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 987,150 shares of company stock valued at $202,366,682. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Republic Services Company 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.