Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Makes New Investment in Rentokil Initial PLC $RTO

Key Points

• Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new stake of 99,834 shares in Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) during Q4, valued at about $2.94 million.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $34.50; recent activity includes Oppenheimer raising its target to $35 and Morgan Stanley upgrading to "overweight," while Zacks cut to "strong sell."
• Rentokil declared a dividend of $0.412 per share, payable May 19 with shareholders of record on April 10 (ex-dividend date April 10).

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new stake in Rentokil Initial PLC (NYSE:RTO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 99,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,941,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Rentokil Initial by 171.0% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Rentokil Initial by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,972 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Rentokil Initial by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,054 shares of the company's stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Rentokil Initial by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,582 shares of the company's stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on RTO shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Rentokil Initial from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Zacks Research cut Rentokil Initial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Rentokil Initial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Rentokil Initial from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.50.

Rentokil Initial Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of RTO opened at $33.52 on Tuesday. Rentokil Initial PLC has a fifty-two week low of $22.53 and a fifty-two week high of $34.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $32.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Rentokil Initial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.412 per share. This represents a yield of 245.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th.

Rentokil Initial Profile

Rentokil Initial PLC is a global business services company specializing in pest control, hygiene and workwear services. Headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom, the company delivers outsourced solutions designed to protect people, preserve assets and enhance workplaces for both commercial and residential customers.

Under the Rentokil Pest Control brand, the company offers services ranging from routine inspections and treatment of insects, rodents and birds to specialised programmes for food manufacturing and healthcare environments.

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