Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Key Points

• Barclays raised Republic Services’ price target to $254 from $240 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying roughly 3.3% upside from the reported share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive: 12 analysts rate the stock a Buy and nine a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target of $248.85.
• Republic Services exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.94 in EPS versus $1.93 expected and $4.56 billion in revenue, up 8.2% year over year.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Barclays from $240.00 to $254.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the business services provider's stock. Barclays's price target suggests a potential upside of 3.30% from the company's current price.

RSG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Republic Services from $259.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Republic Services from $270.00 to $258.00 in a report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Republic Services from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their price objective on Republic Services from $249.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.85.

Republic Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RSG traded up $1.86 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $245.90. 1,523,680 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,526,843. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $222.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.81. Republic Services has a twelve month low of $196.41 and a twelve month high of $249.37.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.42 billion. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.56%. Republic Services's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Republic Services will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. acquired 324,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $222.89 per share, with a total value of $72,396,900.90. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 117,058,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,091,156,583.16. The trade was a 0.28% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 6,254,462 shares of company stock worth $1,380,321,958. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Republic Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Republic Services in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Republic Services in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Republic Services in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Republic Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 47.3% in the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 162 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.73% of the company's stock.

Republic Services Company Profile

Republic Services, Inc is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, recycling and disposal solutions for residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Its services include curbside collection, dumpster and roll-off container services, transfer station operations, landfill management and recycling processing.

The company also provides specialized environmental services, including hazardous waste management, emergency response, remediation and other sustainability-related solutions for businesses and government organizations.

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