Is Republic Services, Inc. (RSG) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) has seen an increase in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months.

At the moment, there are a multitude of gauges investors can use to watch stocks. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can trounce the market by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as key, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. There are a variety of reasons for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a gander at the key action encompassing Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG).

What have hedge funds been doing with Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 23 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 5% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the most valuable position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG). GAMCO Investors has a $77.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.5% of its 13F portfolio. On GAMCO Investors’s heels is Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, managed by Michael Larson, which held a $44.6 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

Consequently, some big names have jumped into Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) headfirst. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, assembled the biggest position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG). Renaissance Technologies had 18.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $17.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new RSG investors: Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management, Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital, and Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments.

How are insiders trading Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time period, Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG). These stocks are Clean Harbors Inc (NYSE:CLH), Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN), Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM), and Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL). This group of stocks are the members of the waste management industry and their market caps are similar to RSG’s market cap.

With the returns shown by our studies, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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