Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) Stock Rating Upgraded by Royal Bank of Canada

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) was upgraded by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $237.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $219.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 17.89% from the company’s current price.

RSG has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $211.00 to $238.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Republic Services from $219.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair assumed coverage on Republic Services in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Republic Services from $217.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.12.

Republic Services Stock Up 0.5 %

RSG opened at $201.04 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Republic Services has a twelve month low of $162.27 and a twelve month high of $220.58. The company has a market cap of $62.96 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $208.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.62.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Republic Services news, Director Katharine Weymouth sold 1,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.27, for a total value of $400,186.93. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 879 shares in the company, valued at $189,222.33. This trade represents a 67.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brian M. Delghiaccio sold 5,071 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.02, for a total value of $1,065,011.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,326,906.36. This trade represents a 44.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RSG. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 23.2% in the third 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 buying an additional 1,131,850 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Republic Services by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,507,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $903,316,000 after purchasing an additional 73,207 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Republic Services by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,129,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $626,553,000 after buying an additional 509,116 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Republic Services by 2.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,520,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $506,265,000 after purchasing an additional 57,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,477,255 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

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.