Republic Services (RSG) Competitors

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

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in RSG or WM?

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

Which has more risk and volatility, RSG or WM?

Republic Services has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Waste Management has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer RSG or WM?

In the previous week, Waste Management had 4 more articles in the media than Republic Services. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Waste Management and 23 mentions for Republic Services. Republic Services' average media sentiment score of 1.56 beat Waste Management's score of 0.96 indicating that Republic Services is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Republic Services	21 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Waste Management	18 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate RSG or WM?

Republic Services presently has a consensus target price of $215.71, suggesting a potential upside of 0.36%. Waste Management has a consensus target price of $228.94, suggesting a potential upside of 1.69%. Given Waste Management's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Waste Management is more favorable than Republic Services.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Republic Services	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Waste Management	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Which has better valuation and earnings, RSG or WM?

Waste Management has higher revenue and earnings than Republic Services. Republic Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Waste Management, 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
Republic Services	$14.96B	4.50	$1.73B	$6.25	34.39
Waste Management	$20.43B	4.42	$2.30B	$6.54	34.42

Is RSG or WM a better dividend stock?

Republic Services pays an annual dividend of $2.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Waste Management pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Republic Services pays out 37.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Waste Management pays out 45.9% 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 raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Waste Management is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is RSG or WM more profitable?

Republic Services has a net margin of 12.46% compared to Waste Management's net margin of 12.35%. Waste Management's return on equity of 39.88% beat Republic Services' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Republic Services	12.46%	18.18%	6.26%
Waste Management	12.35%	39.88%	8.73%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor RSG or WM?

Waste Management received 102 more outperform votes than Republic Services when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.59% of users gave Waste Management an outperform vote while only 64.64% of users gave Republic Services an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Republic Services	Outperform Votes 490 64.64%	Underperform Votes 268 35.36%
Waste Management	Outperform Votes 592 66.59%	Underperform Votes 297 33.41%

Summary

Waste Management beats Republic Services on 18 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.