Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) Shares Gap Up to $24.55

Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.55, but opened at $25.23. Rentokil Initial shares last traded at $25.25, with a volume of 91,604 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upgraded Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Rentokil Initial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group raised Rentokil Initial from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Rentokil Initial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rentokil Initial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.00.

Rentokil Initial Trading Up 3.6 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.01.

Rentokil Initial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.2034 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 312,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,950,000 after purchasing an additional 18,886 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 4th quarter valued at about $229,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Rentokil Initial during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,613,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in Rentokil Initial by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 313,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,968,000 after buying an additional 41,241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 162.7% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 45,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,300,000 after buying an additional 28,152 shares during the period. 9.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.