Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Rentokil Initial PLC (NYSE:RTO) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded the stock from an underperform rating to an outperform rating. The stock traded as high as $27.37 and last traded at $27.46, with a volume of 10053 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $26.57.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Berenberg Bank raised Rentokil Initial to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Trading of Rentokil Initial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 41.3% during the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 23,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 6,883 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 38.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 8,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 2,490 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 120.3% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 54,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,308,000 after buying an additional 29,762 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 669.3% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 15,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 13,493 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Rentokil Initial by 93,129.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 293,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,048,000 after purchasing an additional 293,358 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.91% of the company’s stock.

Rentokil Initial Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.83. The stock has a market cap of $14.06 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.95.

Rentokil Initial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.2738 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 240.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Rentokil Initial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.85%.

Rentokil Initial Company Profile

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.