Rentokil Initial PLC (NYSE:RTO) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon Corp has significantly reduced its stake in Rentokil Initial PLC by 92.0%, resulting in ownership of 30,749 shares valued at approximately $704,000.
• Several other institutional investors have made changes to their investments in Rentokil Initial, including Wealthquest Corp and GAMMA Investing LLC, the latter increasing its holdings by 996.0%.
• Analyst ratings for Rentokil Initial have fluctuated, with Sanford C. Bernstein downgrading the stock to "underperform" while Deutsche Bank maintained a "buy" rating.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial PLC (NYSE:RTO - Free Report) by 92.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,749 shares of the company's stock after selling 352,808 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp's holdings in Rentokil Initial were worth $704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gates Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,258,013 shares of the company's stock valued at $158,453,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,845 shares during the last quarter. Voss Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 3,090,287 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,246,000 after buying an additional 540,287 shares during the period. MIG Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. MIG Capital LLC now owns 1,543,879 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,091,000 after purchasing an additional 347,882 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 109.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,091,475 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,636,000 after buying an additional 570,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Snyder Capital Management L P purchased a new position in shares of Rentokil Initial in the 4th quarter valued at about $24,297,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on RTO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Rentokil Initial from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a report on Monday, July 21st.

Rentokil Initial Price Performance

Shares of RTO traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.24. 543,263 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 797,871. The company has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.62. Rentokil Initial PLC has a 52-week low of $19.60 and a 52-week high of $34.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Rentokil Initial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.2738 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a yield of 240.0%. Rentokil Initial's dividend payout ratio is 45.70%.

Rentokil Initial 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.