Parnassus Investments LLC Sells 37,216 Shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Parnassus Investments LLC lowered its stake in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 430,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 37,216 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Republic Services were worth $86,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Republic Services by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 45,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,191,000 after purchasing an additional 10,072 shares in the last quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Republic Services during the 4th quarter valued at $1,702,000. CFO4Life Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Republic Services during the 4th quarter valued at $216,000. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Republic Services by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. now owns 224,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,217,000 after buying an additional 25,675 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its stake in Republic Services by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 44,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,904,000 after buying an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on RSG shares. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $244.00) on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Republic Services from $240.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $235.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Republic Services from $239.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Republic Services from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $264.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Five research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.20, for a total value of $1,436,062.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Republic Services Trading Down 0.7 %

RSG opened at $229.08 on Friday. Republic Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $180.91 and a 12 month high of $240.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $221.33 and a 200 day moving average of $211.50. The firm has a market cap of $71.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Republic Services’s payout ratio is currently 35.75%.

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.