Amundi Lowers Stake in Republic Services, Inc. $RSG

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its Republic Services stake by 13.1% in the second quarter, selling 178,961 shares and retaining 1.18 million shares valued at approximately $252.5 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $245.26; 12 analysts rate the stock a Buy while 10 recommend Hold.
• Republic Services exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, raised its quarterly dividend from $0.62 to $0.67 per share, and reported that major shareholder Cascade Investment purchased 329,200 shares.

Amundi cut its stake in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,184,897 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 178,961 shares during the period. Amundi owned about 0.39% of Republic Services worth $252,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RSG. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 19,694.6% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 49,796,796 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,610,701,000 after purchasing an additional 49,545,228 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Republic Services in the second quarter worth approximately $3,798,092,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Republic Services by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,695,747 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,054,820,000 after buying an additional 166,474 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Republic Services by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,765,623 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,857,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Republic Services by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,348,501 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,133,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,719 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on RSG shares. Morgan Stanley set a $232.00 price objective on shares of Republic Services in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Argus cut shares of Republic Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Republic Services from $233.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Republic Services from $247.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Republic Services from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $245.26.

Republic Services Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:RSG opened at $222.58 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $217.74 and its 200 day moving average is $215.14. The company has a market cap of $68.16 billion, a PE ratio of 31.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Republic Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.41 and a 1 year high of $233.77.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.69% and a net margin of 12.94%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. Republic Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.230-7.280 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Republic Services, Inc. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Republic Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This is a positive change from Republic Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Republic Services's payout ratio is presently 35.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. purchased 329,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $223.27 per share, with a total value of $73,500,484.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 115,021,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,680,856,333.29. This represents a 0.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have bought a total of 4,217,545 shares of company stock worth $926,720,260 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Republic Services

Republic Services, Inc is a leading provider of non-hazardous solid waste and recycling services in the United States. The company offers a broad range of waste management solutions to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers, positioning itself as a full-service partner for everyday waste collection as well as specialized disposal needs.

Republic's core operations include curbside and commercial collection, transfer and hauling, materials recovery and recycling facilities, and landfill disposal.

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