Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) Short Interest Down 40.1% in March

Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,750,000 shares, a decrease 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 currently 2.4 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Keystone Financial Services acquired a new stake in Rentokil Initial during the 4th quarter worth about $236,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position 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 valued at $423,573,000 after purchasing an additional 617,227 shares in the last quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC grew its position in Rentokil Initial by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 160,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,051,000 after purchasing an additional 35,100 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Rentokil Initial by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 431,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,918,000 after buying an additional 24,699 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Rentokil Initial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a report on Friday, March 7th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Rentokil Initial Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Rentokil Initial stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.92. The stock had a trading volume of 772,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 727,189. Rentokil Initial has a 1 year low of $20.60 and a 1 year high of $34.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.81. 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 capitalization of $11.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 1.14.

Rentokil Initial Dividend Announcement

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

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.