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

Rentokil Initial PLC (NYSE:RTO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $34.50.

RTO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Rentokil Initial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Rentokil Initial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Rentokil Initial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Rentokil Initial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 18th.

Rentokil Initial Price Performance

NYSE:RTO opened at $32.79 on Friday. Rentokil Initial has a 12-month low of $19.60 and a 12-month high of $33.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.23.

Rentokil Initial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.412 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 266.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th.

Institutional Trading of Rentokil Initial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 816,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,065,000 after acquiring an additional 40,024 shares during the period. Van Diest Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Rentokil Initial in the fourth quarter valued at $343,000. Vident Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 4th quarter worth $329,000. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 4th quarter worth $939,000. Finally, III Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. III Capital Management now owns 185,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,454,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. 9.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rentokil Initial Company Profile

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.