Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) Price Target Raised to $265.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) had its price target raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $239.00 to $265.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Republic Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $219.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Republic Services from $240.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Republic Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $211.00 to $238.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.25.

Republic Services Stock Performance

Shares of Republic Services stock opened at $228.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $71.47 billion, a PE ratio of 36.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $211.31 and a 200-day moving average of $207.76. Republic Services has a 1-year low of $179.62 and a 1-year high of $232.52.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 18.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Republic Services will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Republic Services’s payout ratio is 37.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Republic Services news, Director Katharine Weymouth sold 1,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.27, for a total value of $400,186.93. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Republic Services by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,590,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,740,083,000 after purchasing an additional 144,719 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased 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 buying an additional 218,729 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,131,850 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Republic Services by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,317,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,069,836,000 after buying an additional 499,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Republic Services by 1.3% during the fourth 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. 57.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.