Lazard Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO - Free Report) by 78.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 52,314 shares of the company's stock after selling 189,745 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Rentokil Initial were worth $1,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RTO. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 65.2% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,505 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 15,208.3% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,825 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 486.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,611 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Rentokil Initial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 140.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,402 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Rentokil Initial Stock Performance

NYSE:RTO opened at $23.39 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.31. The company has a market cap of $11.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Rentokil Initial plc has a 52 week low of $19.60 and a 52 week high of $34.07.

Rentokil Initial Announces Dividend

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

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.

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