J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Decreases Position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lessened its position in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,286 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $27,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Republic Services by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,825,175 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $367,192,000 after acquiring an additional 10,562 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Republic Services by 120.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 17,839 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,589,000 after acquiring an additional 9,745 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 19,405 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,904,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Natixis lifted its position in Republic Services by 259.2% during the fourth quarter. Natixis now owns 9,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,968,000 after buying an additional 7,059 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Republic Services by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 53,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,844,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. 57.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Republic Services

In related news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,416 shares of the company’s stock, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Republic Services Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:RSG opened at $243.11 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $75.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $235.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.29. Republic Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.92 and a 52 week high of $249.73.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $4.05 billion for 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 last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RSG has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up from $244.00) on shares of Republic Services in a report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Republic Services from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Republic Services from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.13.

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.