Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 12,400 Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 12,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,045,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Republic Services by 56.3% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Republic Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Republic Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Republic Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Republic Services in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RSG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Republic Services from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group cut shares of Republic Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $182.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $213.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.77.

Republic Services Stock Performance

Republic Services stock opened at $188.95 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $185.28 and a 200-day moving average of $168.34. Republic Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.33 and a 1 year high of $192.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $59.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.68.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The business services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.13. Republic Services had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $3.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were paid a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Activity

In other Republic Services news, CEO Ark Jon Vander sold 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.10, for a total transaction of $1,002,608.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,669,303.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Republic Services 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.