Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) Upgraded at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $237.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $219.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on RSG. William Blair initiated coverage on Republic Services in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Republic Services from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $217.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Republic Services from $219.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $219.00 to $237.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.12.

Republic Services Trading Up 2.0 %

RSG opened at $207.05 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.78. Republic Services has a fifty-two week low of $162.86 and a fifty-two week high of $220.58. The company has a market cap of $64.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.20. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.18% and a net margin of 12.46%. The company had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Republic Services will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Republic Services’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insider Activity at Republic Services

In related news, Director Katharine Weymouth sold 1,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.27, for a total value of $400,186.93. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $189,222.33. This trade represents a 67.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brian M. Delghiaccio sold 5,071 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.02, for a total value of $1,065,011.42. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,326,906.36. This trade represents a 44.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RSG. TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 13.0% in the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 114,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,013,000 after purchasing an additional 13,138 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Republic Services during the third quarter worth approximately $6,102,000. Lifeworks Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 1,112.3% during the third quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 21,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,312,000 after acquiring an additional 19,698 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 15.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Republic Services during the third quarter worth approximately $6,579,000. 57.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Republic Services Company 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.