Sanford C. Bernstein Downgrades Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) to Underperform

Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a research note released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rentokil Initial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Rentokil Initial Price Performance

Shares of Rentokil Initial stock opened at $23.39 on Thursday. Rentokil Initial has a twelve month low of $19.60 and a twelve month high of $34.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.31. 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 firm has a market cap of $11.81 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.96.

Rentokil Initial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.3825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a yield of 2.4%. Rentokil Initial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rentokil Initial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gates Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Rentokil Initial by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,615,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,490,000 after buying an additional 357,292 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 114.2% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 3,786,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,862,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,866 shares in the last quarter. Voss Capital LP grew its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 12.4% in the first quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 3,471,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,508,000 after purchasing an additional 381,659 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 36.8% in the first quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,794,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,103,000 after purchasing an additional 482,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIG Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. MIG Capital LLC now owns 1,543,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,091,000 after purchasing an additional 347,882 shares in the last quarter. 9.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.