Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,630,000 shares, an increase of 60.6% from the October 15th total of 2,260,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 900,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rentokil Initial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 211.3% during the 3rd quarter. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. now owns 214,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,345,000 after acquiring an additional 145,528 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Rentokil Initial by 1,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 9,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 8,232 shares during the last quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co raised its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 3.2% during the third quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 209,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,220,000 after acquiring an additional 6,401 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in Rentokil Initial during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Rentokil Initial by 165.8% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 55,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after purchasing an additional 34,687 shares in the last quarter. 9.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RTO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered Rentokil Initial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Rentokil Initial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Rentokil Initial Trading Down 1.0 %

RTO opened at $25.84 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.04. Rentokil Initial has a 12 month low of $22.40 and a 12 month high of $34.07.

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.