Short Interest in Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) Grows By 60.6%

Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) saw a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,630,000 shares, an increase of 60.6% from the October 15th total of 2,260,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 900,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Institutional Trading of Rentokil Initial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Rentokil Initial during the first quarter valued at $47,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Rentokil Initial during the first quarter worth approximately $575,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 41.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 25,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 7,473 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 21.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 64,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after buying an additional 11,202 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rentokil Initial by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 58,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,756,000 after buying an additional 2,294 shares in the last quarter. 9.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RTO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered Rentokil Initial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays upgraded shares of Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Rentokil Initial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rentokil Initial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

Rentokil Initial Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE RTO opened at $25.53 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $25.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Rentokil Initial has a 12 month low of $22.40 and a 12 month high of $34.07.

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.