Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Rentokil Initial PLC (NYSE:RTO)

Key Points

• Motley Fool Asset Management LLC has reduced its stake in Rentokil Initial PLC by 75%, now holding 118,263 shares worth approximately $2.7 million.
• Other institutional investors, like JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Rockefeller Capital Management, have significantly increased their stakes, with JPMorgan up 91.1% and Rockefeller by 109.4%.
• Despite a recent dividend declaration, analysts are divided on the stock, with Sanford C. Bernstein downgrading it to "underperform" while Deutsche Bank maintains a "buy" rating.

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Rentokil Initial PLC (NYSE:RTO - Free Report) by 75.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,263 shares of the company's stock after selling 354,549 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC's holdings in Rentokil Initial were worth $2,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RTO. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 92,879 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,352,000 after acquiring an additional 7,155 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 91.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 13,003 shares of the company's stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 6,200 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,287 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 266,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,744,000 after acquiring an additional 14,888 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Rentokil Initial by 109.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,091,475 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,636,000 after acquiring an additional 570,330 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Rentokil Initial from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research note on Monday, July 21st.

Rentokil Initial Stock Performance

RTO opened at $25.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.64. Rentokil Initial PLC has a 1 year low of $19.60 and a 1 year high of $34.07. The stock has a market cap of $12.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.92.

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 issued a $0.2738 dividend. This represents a yield of 240.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Rentokil Initial's payout ratio is presently 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.

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