Uniting Wealth Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 1,322 Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Republic Services by 17.4% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Republic Services by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Republic Services by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 2,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Republic Services by 1.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 27,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,488,000 after buying an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its holdings in Republic Services by 48.9% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 7,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RSG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts raised Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Republic Services in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, CIBC upgraded Republic Services from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $264.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.88.

Republic Services Stock Performance

RSG stock opened at $244.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $76.40 billion, a PE ratio of 37.70, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $229.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $214.60. Republic Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $180.92 and a 1-year high of $245.00.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 12.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Republic Services

In other news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,436,062.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,416 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.