Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) Stock

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $208.00 to $217.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on RSG. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Republic Services from $220.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $196.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Republic Services Trading Up 0.3 %

Republic Services stock opened at $198.58 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Republic Services has a 12 month low of $148.36 and a 12 month high of $208.69. The stock has a market cap of $62.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.70.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.20. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 18.18%. The business had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. Republic Services’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Republic Services will post 6.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Republic Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Tomago Collins sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.01, for a total transaction of $649,632.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,549,832.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in Republic Services by 351.6% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 140 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Republic Services in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in Republic Services in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Republic Services in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in Republic Services in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.73% of the company’s stock.

About Republic Services

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.