Short Interest in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) Drops By 17.2%

Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) saw a large decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,120,000 shares, a decline of 17.2% from the November 15th total of 2,560,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 955,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Katharine Weymouth sold 1,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.27, for a total value of $400,186.93. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $189,222.33. This represents a 67.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brian M. Delghiaccio sold 5,071 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.02, for a total value of $1,065,011.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,326,906.36. This trade represents a 44.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,004,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,205,883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131,850 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Republic Services by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,507,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $903,316,000 after purchasing an additional 73,207 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Republic Services by 2.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,520,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $506,265,000 after purchasing an additional 57,040 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Republic Services by 437.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,814,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $364,449,000 after buying an additional 1,477,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Republic Services by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,808,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,480,000 after buying an additional 92,013 shares in the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on RSG shares. CIBC raised their price target on Republic Services from $217.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $211.00 to $238.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Republic Services from $219.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Republic Services from $211.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.06.

Republic Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RSG opened at $208.97 on Friday. Republic Services has a 52 week low of $160.65 and a 52 week high of $220.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $208.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.84. The company has a market cap of $65.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.44, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.18% and a net margin of 12.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Republic Services will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.12%.

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.