State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Stock Holdings in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in Republic Services, Inc. by 8.0% in Q1, owning 71,928 shares valued at approximately $17.4 million after selling 6,237 shares.
• Republic Services recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.625 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $2.50 and a yield of 1.1%.
• Several major institutional investors, such as Vanguard Group and JPMorgan Chase, have recently increased their holdings in Republic Services, indicating strong interest in the company's stock.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG - Free Report) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 71,928 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,237 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Republic Services were worth $17,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Republic Services by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,761,276 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,543,231,000 after purchasing an additional 170,548 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 499,237 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Republic Services by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,872,235 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $695,541,000 after purchasing an additional 119,158 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Republic Services by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,426,215 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $488,106,000 after purchasing an additional 280,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,220,487 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.73% of the company's stock.

Republic Services Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE RSG opened at $232.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $72.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.60. Republic Services, Inc. has a one year low of $197.60 and a one year high of $258.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $241.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.81.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.27% and a net margin of 12.97%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is an increase from Republic Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Republic Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Republic Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Republic Services from $229.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Republic Services from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Republic Services from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $260.00 price objective on Republic Services and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Nine 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Republic Services currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $262.17.

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.

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