Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $21.84, but opened at $23.30. Rentokil Initial shares last traded at $23.22, with a volume of 389,933 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Rentokil Initial Stock Up 6.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.48.

Rentokil Initial Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Rentokil Initial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 114.2% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 3,786,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,862,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,866 shares in the last quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Rentokil Initial by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,258,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,453,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084,845 shares in the last quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P acquired a new stake in Rentokil Initial in the 4th quarter valued at about $24,297,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 109.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,091,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,636,000 after purchasing an additional 570,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voss Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Rentokil Initial by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 3,090,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,246,000 after purchasing an additional 540,287 shares in the last quarter. 9.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.