Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 533,923 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the previous session’s volume of 716,796 shares.The stock last traded at $20.88 and had previously closed at $20.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RTO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rentokil Initial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Rentokil Initial Stock Up 3.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.57.

Rentokil Initial Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Rentokil Initial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RTO. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Rentokil Initial by 30.1% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rentokil Initial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 90,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,296,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Rentokil Initial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co increased its position in Rentokil Initial by 4.7% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 24,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.91% of the company’s stock.

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.