Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Republic Services were worth $2,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Republic Services by 14.5% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 83,671.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 538,653 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $108,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,010 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Republic Services by 1.9% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,168,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Republic Services by 15.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Republic Services in the third quarter worth about $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Republic Services

In other news, Director Katharine Weymouth sold 1,859 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.27, for a total transaction of $400,186.93. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $189,222.33. This represents a 67.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of Republic Services stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.20, for a total value of $1,436,062.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,376,931.20. This represents a 37.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $239.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $211.00 to $238.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Republic Services from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upped 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. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Republic Services from $219.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.75.

Republic Services Price Performance

NYSE:RSG opened at $230.73 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $212.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.51. The firm has a market cap of $72.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. Republic Services, Inc. has a one year low of $180.91 and a one year high of $232.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.58.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.21. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 12.74%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.75%.

About Republic Services

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.