Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) Now Covered by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, StockNewsAPI reports. The firm issued a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on RTO. BNP Paribas raised shares of Rentokil Initial from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Bank of America cut shares of Rentokil Initial from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $29.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th.

Rentokil Initial Price Performance

Rentokil Initial stock opened at $26.73 on Tuesday. Rentokil Initial has a 12-month low of $23.39 and a 12-month high of $41.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $28.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.28. The company has a market capitalization of $13.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.06.

Rentokil Initial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.3784 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This is a boost from Rentokil Initial’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.18. This represents a dividend yield of 1.6%. Rentokil Initial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rentokil Initial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Golden State Equity Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Foresight Global Investors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rentokil Initial during the third quarter valued at $1,277,000. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Rentokil Initial by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,802,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,897,000 after acquiring an additional 116,496 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial during the third quarter worth approximately $240,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rentokil Initial by 5.4% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 15,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.91% of the company’s stock.

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.