Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) Now Covered by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, StockNewsAPI reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas raised Rentokil Initial from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Bank of America cut Rentokil Initial from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th.

Rentokil Initial Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of RTO stock opened at $26.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.18. Rentokil Initial has a fifty-two week low of $23.39 and a fifty-two week high of $41.55.

Rentokil Initial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.3784 dividend. This is a positive change from Rentokil Initial’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.6%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rentokil Initial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gates Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,155,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,490,000 after acquiring an additional 528,409 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,884,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,122,000 after acquiring an additional 81,134 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Rentokil Initial in the 4th quarter worth about $77,547,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,025,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,949,000 after acquiring an additional 246,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 923,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,224,000 after acquiring an additional 60,018 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.91% of the company’s stock.

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.