River Road Asset Management LLC Buys New Shares in Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO)

River Road Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,767,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,055,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,139,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,610,000 after purchasing an additional 105,248 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 5.7% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,015,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,768,000 after buying an additional 109,561 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Rentokil Initial by 130.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,839,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,530,000 after buying an additional 1,041,860 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 345,196.7% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,560,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,056,000 after buying an additional 1,560,289 shares during the period. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,764,000. 9.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on RTO. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Rentokil Initial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays upgraded Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Rentokil Initial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

Rentokil Initial Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE RTO opened at $25.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Rentokil Initial plc has a 1-year low of $22.40 and a 1-year high of $34.07.

Rentokil Initial 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.