Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Acquires 960 Shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $12,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RSG. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in Republic Services in the 1st quarter worth about $332,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,565,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 45,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Republic Services

In other news, Director Tomago Collins sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.01, for a total value of $649,632.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,549,832.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Republic Services Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE RSG opened at $211.61 on Friday. Republic Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $154.92 and a fifty-two week high of $213.25. The stock has a market cap of $66.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.20. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.18% and a net margin of 12.46%. The firm had revenue of $4.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RSG. Scotiabank began coverage on Republic Services in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $224.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Republic Services from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. CIBC increased their target price on Republic Services from $208.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Republic Services from $219.00 to $214.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Republic Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.71.

About Republic Services

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.