Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) Raised to Outperform at Royal Bank of Canada

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $237.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $219.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 16.62% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. 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 upgraded Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $211.00 to $238.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC raised their target price on Republic Services from $217.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Republic Services in a report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $224.00 price target on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.12.

Republic Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RSG opened at $203.22 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $208.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.76. Republic Services has a 52-week low of $162.27 and a 52-week high of $220.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.73.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Republic Services will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Republic Services news, CFO Brian M. Delghiaccio sold 5,071 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.02, for a total transaction of $1,065,011.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,326,906.36. The trade was a 44.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $189,222.33. This trade represents a 67.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Republic Services

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TCW Group Inc. lifted its position in Republic Services by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 114,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,013,000 after buying an additional 13,138 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Republic Services during the third quarter valued at $6,102,000. Lifeworks Advisors LLC grew its stake in Republic Services by 1,112.3% in the third quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 21,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,312,000 after purchasing an additional 19,698 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Republic Services by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Republic Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,579,000. 57.73% of the stock is currently 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.