Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $249.64 and last traded at $251.3070, with a volume of 63,129 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $245.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Republic Services in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Republic Services from $270.00 to $258.00 in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets set a $244.00 price target on Republic Services in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Republic Services from $220.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Republic Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.32.

Republic Services Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $223.85 and its 200 day moving average is $217.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $77.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.32.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.56%. Republic Services’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Republic Services, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, January 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 4th. Republic Services’s payout ratio is 37.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Republic Services news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. bought 409,500 shares of Republic Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $221.49 per share, with a total value of $90,700,155.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 116,166,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,729,680,431.70. This represents a 0.35% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 6,254,462 shares of company stock worth $1,380,321,958. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Republic Services

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RSG. Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Republic Services by 24.2% during the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 8,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Republic Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Csenge Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Republic Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $235,000. Cassia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Republic Services by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Marathon Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Republic Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,843,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Republic Services Company Profile

Republic Services, Inc is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, recycling and disposal solutions for residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Its services include curbside collection, dumpster and roll-off container services, transfer station operations, landfill management and recycling processing.

The company also provides specialized environmental services, including hazardous waste management, emergency response, remediation and other sustainability-related solutions for businesses and government organizations.