Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) Stake Boosted by First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA boosted its position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in RSG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Republic Services by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,590,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,740,083,000 after buying an additional 144,719 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Republic Services by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,262,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,259,855,000 after purchasing an additional 218,729 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Republic Services by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,565,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $918,045,000 after acquiring an additional 57,616 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Republic Services by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,129,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $626,553,000 after purchasing an additional 509,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Republic Services in the 4th quarter worth about $553,039,000. 57.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RSG. CIBC raised Republic Services from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $264.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Republic Services from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $233.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Republic Services in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.13.

Republic Services Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:RSG opened at $243.88 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Republic Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.92 and a 12-month high of $249.73.

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

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd were issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.75%.

Insider Transactions at Republic Services

In other Republic Services news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of Republic Services stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.20, for a total transaction of $1,436,062.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,376,931.20. The trade was a 37.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.