Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. Acquires 25,675 Shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 224,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,675 shares during the quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $45,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of RSG. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in Republic Services by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 44,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,904,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. YCG LLC grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. YCG LLC now owns 215,976 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,450,000 after purchasing an additional 7,744 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Republic Services by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares during the period. Saturna Capital Corp lifted its holdings in Republic Services by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 7,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Republic Services by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 27,461 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,525,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Republic Services Trading Down 0.5 %

RSG opened at $230.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $71.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.51, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $220.75 and its 200-day moving average is $211.38. Republic Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $180.91 and a 1-year high of $240.95.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 18.28%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 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 Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Republic Services’s payout ratio is presently 35.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 $2,376,931.20. This represents a 37.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RSG has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Republic Services from $239.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $219.00 to $237.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Republic Services from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. CIBC upgraded Republic Services from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $264.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $211.00 to $238.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.88.

Republic Services 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.