Avalon Trust Co Makes New Investment in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 400 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $80,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Republic Services by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,004,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,205,883,000 after buying an additional 1,131,850 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Republic Services by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,507,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $903,316,000 after buying an additional 73,207 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Republic Services by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,129,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $626,553,000 after buying an additional 509,116 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Republic Services by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,546,088 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $509,462,000 after buying an additional 25,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Republic Services by 437.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,814,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $364,449,000 after buying an additional 1,477,255 shares in the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,376,931.20. This represents a 37.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Republic Services Price Performance

NYSE RSG opened at $232.08 on Friday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $221.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.71. Republic Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $180.91 and a 52-week high of $240.95. The company has a market cap of $72.48 billion, a PE ratio of 35.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.73.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.21. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 18.28%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on RSG. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Republic Services from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Republic Services from $239.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Republic Services from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Republic Services from $235.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus set a $260.00 price target on shares of Republic Services in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.88.

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.