Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 772 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $5,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,317,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,069,836,000 after buying an additional 499,237 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,565,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $918,045,000 after buying an additional 57,616 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,426,215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $488,106,000 after buying an additional 280,542 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 39,024.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,226,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $539,091,000 after buying an additional 2,220,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 12.4% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,043,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $494,930,000 after buying an additional 224,867 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Republic Services Stock Performance

Shares of RSG opened at $245.01 on Monday. Republic Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $188.82 and a 1 year high of $258.75. The company has a market cap of $76.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.61. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $247.36 and a 200-day moving average of $237.80.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.05. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 18.28%. The company had revenue of $4.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Republic Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This is a boost from Republic Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 2nd. Republic Services’s payout ratio is currently 34.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on RSG shares. National Bank Financial raised shares of Republic Services to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Republic Services in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $266.00 price objective on shares of Republic Services in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.16.

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.