Saturna Capital Corp Increases Position in Republic Services, Inc. $RSG

Saturna Capital Corp boosted its holdings in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 26.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares during the period. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $2,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 130.0% in the 4th quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 12,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,625,000 after acquiring an additional 7,001 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Republic Services by 68.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 352,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $80,883,000 after acquiring an additional 143,704 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Republic Services by 15.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,098,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $711,003,000 after purchasing an additional 409,142 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its holdings in Republic Services by 11.5% in the third quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 93,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,383,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Finally, Numerai GP LLC bought a new stake in Republic Services during the third quarter valued at $7,934,000. 57.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Republic Services

In other Republic Services news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. purchased 366,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $202.24 per share, for a total transaction of $74,019,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 110,315,982 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders bought 987,150 shares of company stock worth $202,366,682 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RSG. UBS Group reduced 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 report on Tuesday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $233.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. 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 note on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Republic Services in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Republic Services from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.26.

Republic Services Price Performance

NYSE RSG opened at $212.65 on Thursday. Republic Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.41 and a 12 month high of $253.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.42 billion, a PE ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.57% and a net margin of 13.00%.The firm had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Republic Services, Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.15%.

About Republic Services

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.