Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) Receives $29.00 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.00.

RTO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group raised shares of Rentokil Initial from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Rentokil Initial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Rentokil Initial Stock Performance

Rentokil Initial stock opened at $25.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.56 and a 200 day moving average of $29.21. Rentokil Initial has a one year low of $23.39 and a one year high of $37.44.

Rentokil Initial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a $0.2034 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. Rentokil Initial’s payout ratio is 23.23%.

Institutional Trading of Rentokil Initial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RTO. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 81.3% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Rentokil Initial by 403.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new position in Rentokil Initial in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rentokil Initial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors 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.