Rentokil Initial plc (LON:RTO) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Rentokil Initial plc (LON:RTO) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 614 ($7.58).

A number of analysts recently weighed in on RTO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 500 ($6.18) price objective on shares of Rentokil Initial in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 600 ($7.41) target price on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Rentokil Initial from GBX 575 ($7.10) to GBX 590 ($7.29) and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andy M. Ransom sold 464,245 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 489 ($6.04), for a total transaction of £2,270,158.05 ($2,804,048.97). Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Rentokil Initial Stock Up 0.4 %

RTO stock opened at GBX 412.20 ($5.09) on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 116.93. Rentokil Initial has a fifty-two week low of GBX 387.80 ($4.79) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 663.80 ($8.20). The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is GBX 451.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 443.26. The stock has a market cap of £10.39 billion, a PE ratio of 2,748.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.54.

Rentokil Initial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of GBX 5.93 ($0.07) per share. This is a boost from Rentokil Initial’s previous dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a yield of 1.38%. Rentokil Initial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6,000.00%.

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.