Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Sell-Side Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Republic Services a “Moderate Buy.” Thirteen of 22 analysts recommend buying the stock, while nine rate it a hold; the average 12-month price target is $243.27.
• Republic Services exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.85 in EPS and $4.43 billion in revenue, up 4.6% year over year. Analysts expect approximately $7.26 in EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.67 per share, equivalent to an annualized $2.68 payout and a 1.2% yield. Institutional investors own 57.73% of the stock, while major shareholder Cascade Investment recently increased its position.

Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $243.27.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on RSG shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Republic Services from $233.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Republic Services from $233.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Republic Services from $256.00 to $246.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $233.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $270.00 to $258.00 in a research note on Friday, October 9th.

Republic Services Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Republic Services stock opened at $231.50 on Friday. Republic Services has a 12-month low of $196.41 and a 12-month high of $233.42. The stock has a market cap of $70.89 billion, a PE ratio of 32.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $218.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $214.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Republic Services had a return on equity of 18.69% and a net margin of 12.94%. Republic Services's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. Republic Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.230-7.280 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Republic Services will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a boost from Republic Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.6250. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Republic Services's payout ratio is currently 37.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. purchased 324,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $222.89 per share, with a total value of $72,396,900.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 117,058,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,091,156,583.16. This represents a 0.28% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 6,254,462 shares of company stock worth $1,380,321,958. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Republic Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Republic Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,798,092,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Republic Services by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,953,507 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,120,893,000 after purchasing an additional 160,051 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Republic Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $682,573,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 68.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,256,190 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $497,828,000 after purchasing an additional 913,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Republic Services by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,132,434 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $454,379,000 after purchasing an additional 28,996 shares during the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Republic Services

Republic Services, Inc NYSE: RSG is an environmental services company that provides non-hazardous solid waste collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services. Its customers include households, businesses, industrial facilities and municipalities.

The company's operations include residential and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, landfill management, transfer stations, recycling processing and related environmental solutions. Republic also provides services involving hazardous waste, organics, energy recovery and other specialized waste streams through selected operations.

Republic Services serves communities and customers across the United States, with operations spanning a broad network of collection, transfer, recycling and disposal facilities.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.