Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Invests $403,000 in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RSG. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in Republic Services by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 58,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,672,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Republic Services in the fourth quarter valued at $221,000. TIAA Trust National Association raised its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $661,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd grew its holdings in Republic Services by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd now owns 3,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Republic Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $151,000. 57.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Republic Services

In other news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of Republic Services stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,416 shares in the company, valued at $2,376,931.20. This trade represents a 37.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RSG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Republic Services from $235.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. CIBC upgraded Republic Services from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $264.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $211.00 to $238.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Five equities research 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.88.

Republic Services Price Performance

Shares of RSG opened at $237.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.16. Republic Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $180.92 and a 52-week high of $240.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.73.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio 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.