BNP Paribas Financial Markets Buys New Position in Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 225,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,697,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 94.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 462,657 shares of the company's stock worth $11,714,000 after acquiring an additional 225,214 shares in the last quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 4th quarter worth about $5,416,000. Snyder Capital Management L P bought a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 4th quarter worth about $24,297,000. Kerrisdale Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Kerrisdale Advisers LLC now owns 112,895 shares of the company's stock worth $2,859,000 after acquiring an additional 38,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arvin Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Arvin Capital Management LP now owns 173,600 shares of the company's stock worth $4,396,000 after acquiring an additional 43,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Rentokil Initial from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Rentokil Initial Stock Performance

NYSE:RTO traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $23.56. 675,982 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 781,271. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $22.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.29. Rentokil Initial plc has a 12 month low of $19.60 and a 12 month high of $34.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Rentokil Initial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.3825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a yield of 2.4%. Rentokil Initial's payout ratio is 45.03%.

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.