Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 533,923 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the previous session’s volume of 716,796 shares.The stock last traded at $20.88 and had previously closed at $20.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RTO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research report on Friday. Citigroup raised shares of Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Rentokil Initial Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $24.71 and a 200-day moving average of $25.63. 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 Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rentokil Initial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RTO. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Rentokil Initial by 114.2% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 3,786,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,862,000 after buying an additional 2,018,866 shares during the last quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,258,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,453,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,845 shares during the period. Snyder Capital Management L P acquired a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,297,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 3.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,990,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,573,000 after purchasing an additional 617,227 shares during the period. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial during the third quarter valued at approximately $14,820,000. 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.