Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) Short Interest Update

Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,750,000 shares, a decline of 40.1% from the February 28th total of 2,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 727,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RTO. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Rentokil Initial by 3.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,990,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $423,573,000 after purchasing an additional 617,227 shares during the period. Gates Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,258,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,453,000 after buying an additional 1,084,845 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,018,866 shares during the last quarter. Voss Capital LP grew its position in Rentokil Initial by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 3,090,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,246,000 after acquiring an additional 540,287 shares during the period. Finally, MIG Capital LLC grew its position in Rentokil Initial by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. MIG Capital LLC now owns 1,543,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,091,000 after acquiring an additional 347,882 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.91% of the company’s stock.

Rentokil Initial Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Rentokil Initial stock opened at $22.92 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Rentokil Initial has a fifty-two week low of $20.60 and a fifty-two week high of $34.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.81.

Rentokil Initial Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on RTO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rentokil Initial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.