Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 91 Shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RSG. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 17,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,586,000 after acquiring an additional 4,827 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. grew its holdings in Republic Services by 13.0% in the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 114,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,013,000 after purchasing an additional 13,138 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in Republic Services by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 72,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,672,000 after acquiring an additional 28,764 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Republic Services in the 4th quarter valued at $4,430,000. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Republic Services by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 44,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,879,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,376,931.20. This represents a 37.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Republic Services Trading Down 5.3 %

Republic Services stock opened at $235.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Republic Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.92 and a 12-month high of $249.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $230.70 and a 200 day moving average of $215.14.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.21. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 18.28%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on RSG shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $240.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. CIBC upgraded Republic Services from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $264.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Republic Services from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Republic Services in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Republic Services from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.88.

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.