Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company.

RTO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RTO. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,990,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,573,000 after purchasing an additional 617,227 shares during the last quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,258,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,453,000 after buying an additional 1,084,845 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in Rentokil Initial by 114.2% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 3,786,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,862,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018,866 shares during the last quarter. Voss Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 3,090,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,246,000 after acquiring an additional 540,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIG Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. MIG Capital LLC now owns 1,543,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,091,000 after purchasing an additional 347,882 shares in the last quarter. 9.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rentokil Initial Stock Performance

NYSE:RTO opened at $22.92 on Friday. Rentokil Initial has a 52-week low of $20.60 and a 52-week high of $34.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.20 and its 200 day moving average is $24.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18, a PEG ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 1.14.

Rentokil Initial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.3825 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Rentokil Initial’s payout ratio is 43.71%.

About Rentokil Initial

Rentokil Initial plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides route-based services in North America, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and internationally. It offers a range of pest control services for rodents, and flying and crawling insects, as well as other forms of wildlife management for commercial customers.