Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) Shares Purchased by Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,578 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Republic Services by 437.9% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,814,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $364,449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,477,255 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Republic Services by 23.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,004,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,205,883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131,850 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Republic Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $184,827,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Republic Services by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,129,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $626,553,000 after purchasing an additional 509,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Republic Services by 544.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 545,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,580,000 after purchasing an additional 460,989 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RSG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Republic Services from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus set a $260.00 target price on Republic Services in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. CIBC raised Republic Services from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $264.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.88.

Republic Services Stock Performance

Shares of RSG opened at $232.95 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $72.75 billion, a PE ratio of 35.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.73. Republic Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $180.92 and a 52-week high of $240.95.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 18.28%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.75%.

Insider Transactions at Republic Services

In other news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of Republic Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.20, for a total transaction of $1,436,062.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,376,931.20. The trade was a 37.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.