KBC Group NV Sells 41,321 Shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

KBC Group NV lowered its position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 19.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 169,938 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 41,321 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $41,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RSG. Norges Bank bought a new position in Republic Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $553,039,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Republic Services by 39,024.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,226,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $539,091,000 after buying an additional 2,220,487 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Republic Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $184,827,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Republic Services by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,317,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,069,836,000 after buying an additional 499,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in Republic Services by 170.6% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 584,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,559,000 after buying an additional 368,395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on RSG. National Bank Financial raised Republic Services to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. CIBC upgraded Republic Services from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $264.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Republic Services in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Republic Services from $233.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 target price (up from $268.00) on shares of Republic Services in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Republic Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.68.

Republic Services Price Performance

NYSE RSG opened at $244.27 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.34 billion, a PE ratio of 36.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $248.90 and its 200 day moving average is $232.47. Republic Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $188.82 and a fifty-two week high of $258.75.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.05. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $4.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. Republic Services’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Republic Services’s payout ratio is 34.99%.

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.