North Dakota State Investment Board Acquires New Holdings in Republic Services, Inc. $RSG

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 6,947 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,472,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Republic Services by 7,683.2% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 739,792 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $169,768,000 after acquiring an additional 730,287 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Republic Services by 1,337.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 575,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $121,995,000 after acquiring an additional 535,603 shares during the period. Man Group plc increased its position in Republic Services by 380.1% during the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 667,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $153,202,000 after acquiring an additional 528,540 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Republic Services by 93.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 907,735 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $208,307,000 after acquiring an additional 438,219 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its position in Republic Services by 49.1% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,326,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,480,000 after acquiring an additional 437,166 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Republic Services

Here are the key news stories impacting Republic Services this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cascade Investment made several large open-market purchases of Republic Services shares over the past few trading sessions, including 307,505 shares, 119,795 shares, and 60,700 shares, signaling strong insider confidence in the company’s outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: The company recently beat first-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, with EPS of $1.70 versus $1.64 expected and revenue of $4.11 billion versus $4.10 billion projected, supporting investor sentiment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Republic Services also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share, which reinforces its income profile but is not likely the main driver of the stock today.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains mixed, with a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $245.15, suggesting analysts see limited near-term upside but no major deterioration in the business.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Republic Services from $227.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Republic Services from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Republic Services in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Republic Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Republic Services from $238.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.15.

Republic Services Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:RSG opened at $214.94 on Wednesday. Republic Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.41 and a 52 week high of $258.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average is $214.00 and its 200-day moving average is $214.86. The company has a market capitalization of $66.13 billion, a PE ratio of 30.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.43.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. Republic Services had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 18.57%. The company had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Republic Services’s payout ratio is currently 36.15%.

Insider Activity at Republic Services

In other news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. bought 60,700 shares of Republic Services stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $213.31 per share, for a total transaction of $12,947,917.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 110,803,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,635,597,400.42. This trade represents a 0.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 987,150 shares of company stock valued at $202,366,682. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Republic Services Company Profile

Republic Services, Inc is a leading provider of non-hazardous solid waste and recycling services in the United States. The company offers a broad range of waste management solutions to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers, positioning itself as a full-service partner for everyday waste collection as well as specialized disposal needs.

Republic’s core operations include curbside and commercial collection, transfer and hauling, materials recovery and recycling facilities, and landfill disposal.