Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 2,516 Shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 750,571 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,516 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.24% of Republic Services worth $151,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RSG. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Republic Services by 437.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,814,613 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $364,449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,477,255 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Republic Services by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,004,199 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,205,883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131,850 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Republic Services by 83,671.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 538,653 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $108,183,000 after purchasing an additional 538,010 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Republic Services by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,129,322 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $626,553,000 after purchasing an additional 509,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Republic Services by 544.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 545,613 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $109,580,000 after purchasing an additional 460,989 shares during the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Republic Services

In other Republic Services news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,416 shares in the company, valued at $2,376,931.20. This represents a 37.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Katharine Weymouth sold 1,859 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.27, for a total transaction of $400,186.93. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $189,222.33. The trade was a 67.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Republic Services Trading Down 0.1 %

Republic Services stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $230.73. The stock had a trading volume of 1,231,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,014,084. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $212.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Republic Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.91 and a twelve month high of $232.52. The firm has a market cap of $72.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Republic Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on RSG shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $219.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Republic Services from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $211.00 to $238.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Republic Services from $239.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Republic Services from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Republic Services from $240.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $231.75.

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.