Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) Research Coverage Started at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a peer perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

RSG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Republic Services from $233.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on Republic Services from $233.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $232.00 price objective on Republic Services in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Republic Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Republic Services from $247.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Republic Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.26.

Republic Services Price Performance

Republic Services stock opened at $219.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $67.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $218.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $215.15. Republic Services has a 1 year low of $196.41 and a 1 year high of $233.42.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last issued 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. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 18.69%. The business had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Republic Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.230-7.280 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Republic Services will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Republic Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This is a positive change from Republic Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. acquired 324,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were 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 directly owned 117,058,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,091,156,583.16. This trade represents a 0.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders bought a total of 6,254,462 shares of company stock worth $1,380,321,958 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Republic Services

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RSG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Republic Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,798,092,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Republic Services by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,765,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,857,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899,183 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Republic Services in the second quarter worth $682,573,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Republic Services during the fourth quarter worth $617,165,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $497,828,000 after purchasing an additional 913,249 shares during the last quarter. 57.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Republic Services

Republic Services, Inc is a provider of non-hazardous solid waste collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers, offering scheduled and on-demand waste pickup, roll-off containers, transfer-station services and landfill disposal.

Its recycling and environmental services include the collection and processing of recyclable materials, organics management, waste reduction programs and related sustainability solutions.