Brokerages Set Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) Price Target at $236.88

Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $236.88.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Republic Services in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $211.00 to $238.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Argus set a $260.00 price target on Republic Services in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $239.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Republic Services from $235.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other Republic Services news, COO Gregg Brummer sold 6,293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.20, for a total value of $1,436,062.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,376,931.20. This represents a 37.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Republic Services

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Republic Services by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,590,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,740,083,000 after acquiring an additional 144,719 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Republic Services by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,262,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,259,855,000 after purchasing an additional 218,729 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Republic Services by 23.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,004,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,205,883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131,850 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Republic Services by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,317,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,069,836,000 after buying an additional 499,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Republic Services by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,565,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $918,045,000 after buying an additional 57,616 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

Republic Services Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE RSG opened at $239.98 on Friday. Republic Services has a 12-month low of $180.92 and a 12-month high of $241.09. The stock has a market cap of $74.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.98, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.52.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.21. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 12.74%. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Republic Services will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Republic Services’s payout ratio is 35.75%.

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.