Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 123,968 Shares of Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its position in Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 768,172 shares of the company’s stock after selling 123,968 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Rentokil Initial were worth $19,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RTO. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 30.1% in the 3rd 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. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in Rentokil Initial by 15,208.3% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Rentokil Initial by 486.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.91% of the company’s stock.

Rentokil Initial Price Performance

Shares of Rentokil Initial stock opened at $23.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.77. Rentokil Initial plc has a twelve month low of $20.60 and a twelve month high of $34.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Rentokil Initial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued 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 payout ratio is 43.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup upgraded Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.