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

Key Points

• Citigroup raised Republic Services’ price target from $259 to $281 and maintained a “buy” rating, implying 15.44% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with 12 buy ratings and nine holds; MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus and average target price of $248.15.
• Republic Services beat quarterly estimates with $1.94 in EPS and $4.56 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 8.2% year over year.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by analysts at Citigroup from $259.00 to $281.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the business services provider's stock. Citigroup's target price indicates a potential upside of 15.44% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Republic Services from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Republic Services from $234.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Republic Services from $242.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Republic Services from $270.00 to $258.00 in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Republic Services from $220.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.15.

Republic Services Stock Performance

RSG stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $243.42. 423,398 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,524,619. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.54 billion, a PE ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $222.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $216.81. Republic Services has a 52 week low of $196.41 and a 52 week high of $249.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.75.

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

Insider Transactions at Republic Services

In other news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. acquired 324,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $222.89 per share, for a total transaction of $72,396,900.90. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 117,058,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,091,156,583.16. This trade represents a 0.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders bought a total of 6,254,462 shares of company stock worth $1,380,321,958 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RSG. Capstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Republic Services by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Republic Services by 110.6% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 5,513 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,326,000 after buying an additional 2,895 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 17.6% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 12,032 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,525,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Republic Services by 8.2% in the third quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 35,436 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,510,000 after buying an additional 2,679 shares during the period. Finally, Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 17,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Republic Services

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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