Rentokil Initial PLC (NYSE:RTO) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Rentokil Initial PLC (NYSE:RTO) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.90.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Rentokil Initial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Rentokil Initial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Rentokil Initial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Rentokil Initial from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $26.70 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research report on Monday.

Rentokil Initial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RTO opened at $24.72 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Rentokil Initial has a 12-month low of $23.26 and a 12-month high of $34.67.

Rentokil Initial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.224 dividend. This represents a yield of 192.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rentokil Initial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Rentokil Initial by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,591,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,329,000 after purchasing an additional 490,885 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 60.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,650,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,373,000 after purchasing an additional 2,511,135 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,463,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,558,000 after purchasing an additional 267,204 shares in the last quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P increased its holdings in shares of Rentokil Initial by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P now owns 1,733,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,067,000 after purchasing an additional 244,976 shares during the period. Finally, Summitry LLC raised its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 1,475,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,482,000 after purchasing an additional 25,170 shares in the last quarter. 9.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Rentokil Initial

Rentokil Initial PLC is a global business services company specializing in pest control, hygiene and workwear services. Headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom, the company delivers outsourced solutions designed to protect people, preserve assets and enhance workplaces for both commercial and residential customers.

Under the Rentokil Pest Control brand, the company offers services ranging from routine inspections and treatment of insects, rodents and birds to specialised programmes for food manufacturing and healthcare environments.