Bill Gates’ investment arm, Cascade Investment, is constantly increasing its position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG). In two latest filings, Cascade Investment, managed by Michael Larson (who also manages the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust) revealed acquiring almost 1.30 million shares. On September 19, Cascade revealed the acquisition of 1.29 million shares of Republic Services, at an weighted-average price of close to $39.26 per share. On Monday, the firm disclosed purchasing another 6,900 shares at close to $39.25 apiece. Following two deals that have been either open-market transactions or a private acquisition of shares, according to the filing, the Mr. Gates is deemed to hold almost 104.16 million shares of Republic Services, Inc..
Among the hedge funds we track at Insider Monkey, Mario Gabelli‘s GAMCO Investors owns around 2.86 million shares of Republic Services, Inc., which is a company engaged in waste management as of the end of June. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, another entity affiliated with Mr. Gates, holds 1.35 million shares, according to its latest 13F filing.
The stock of Republic Services, Inc. trades at around 24 times earnings, which means that its P/E ratio is significantly below the waste management industry average of approximately 80.00. Moreover, the stock has a forward P/E of 18.10.
The stock of Republic Services, Inc. returned around 18% since the beginning of the year. The company is one of the largest in the industry of waste management in terms of market cap, which amounts to $14 billion and is outrun only by Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) with a market cap of $22 billion.
