First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Trims Position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lessened its position in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 602 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $6,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Republic Services by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,254,878 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,494,714,000 after buying an additional 101,518 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Republic Services by 20.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,909,008 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,514,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,588 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Republic Services by 5.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,808,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,480,000 after purchasing an additional 92,013 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 2.1% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,757,757 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $341,602,000 after purchasing an additional 35,650 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Republic Services by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,476,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $286,868,000 after buying an additional 3,809 shares during the period. 57.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RSG has been the topic of several analyst reports. William Blair started coverage on Republic Services in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Republic Services from $196.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Republic Services from $201.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Republic Services from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Republic Services from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.65.

Republic Services Price Performance

RSG stock opened at $204.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $203.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.85. The firm has a market cap of $64.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.92, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.69. Republic Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.65 and a 1 year high of $208.69.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Republic Services had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 12.11%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 2nd. This is an increase from Republic Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio is 40.70%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Tomago Collins sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.01, for a total value of $649,632.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,549,832.86. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate 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.