Republic Services (RSG) Competitors

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) and Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) are both large-cap business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, media sentiment, community ranking, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Which has better valuation & earnings, WM or RSG?

Waste Management has higher revenue and earnings than Republic Services. Waste Management is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Republic Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Waste Management	$22.06B	4.15	$2.75B	$6.80	33.51
Republic Services	$16.03B	4.49	$2.04B	$6.49	35.55

Do institutionals and insiders believe in WM or RSG?

80.4% of Waste Management shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.7% of Republic Services shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Waste Management shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Republic Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to WM or RSG?

In the previous week, Waste Management had 4 more articles in the media than Republic Services. MarketBeat recorded 43 mentions for Waste Management and 39 mentions for Republic Services. Waste Management's average media sentiment score of 0.97 beat Republic Services' score of 0.95 indicating that Waste Management is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Waste Management	29 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Republic Services	22 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend WM or RSG?

Waste Management presently has a consensus target price of $235.94, indicating a potential upside of 3.54%. Republic Services has a consensus target price of $231.75, indicating a potential upside of 0.44%. Given Waste Management's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Waste Management is more favorable than Republic Services.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Waste Management	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65
Republic Services	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65

Is WM or RSG a better dividend stock?

Waste Management pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Republic Services pays an annual dividend of $2.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Waste Management pays out 44.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Republic Services pays out 35.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Waste Management has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years and Republic Services has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years.

Which has more volatility & risk, WM or RSG?

Waste Management has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Republic Services has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer WM or RSG?

Waste Management received 105 more outperform votes than Republic Services when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.81% of users gave Waste Management an outperform vote while only 64.72% of users gave Republic Services an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Waste Management	Outperform Votes 604 66.81%	Underperform Votes 300 33.19%
Republic Services	Outperform Votes 499 64.72%	Underperform Votes 272 35.28%

Is WM or RSG more profitable?

Republic Services has a net margin of 12.74% compared to Waste Management's net margin of 12.45%. Waste Management's return on equity of 38.88% beat Republic Services' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Waste Management	12.45%	38.88%	8.63%
Republic Services	12.74%	18.28%	6.37%

Summary

Waste Management beats Republic Services on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.