Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) Stock Price Down 3.2%

Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) dropped 3.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $24.36 and last traded at $24.37. Approximately 467,604 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 673,571 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RTO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Rentokil Initial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised Rentokil Initial from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rentokil Initial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.00.

Rentokil Initial Stock Down 4.2 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.18. The stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11.

Rentokil Initial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.2034 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Rentokil Initial’s payout ratio is 23.23%.

Institutional Trading of Rentokil Initial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Rentokil Initial during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 403.3% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC bought a new position in Rentokil Initial during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Rentokil Initial during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. 9.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.