Whittier Trust Co. Trims Holdings in Rentokil Initial PLC $RTO

Key Points

• Whittier Trust Co. reduced its holdings in Rentokil Initial PLC by 76.6%, leaving it with 3,052 shares valued at $73,000 after the sale of 9,991 shares in the second quarter.
• Several hedge funds showed increased interest in Rentokil Initial, with Parallel Advisors LLC increasing its holdings by 416.9% during the same period.
• The stock has experienced mixed analyst ratings, including a recent upgrade to "strong buy" by Jefferies Financial Group, while Berenberg Bank issued a "strong sell" rating.

Whittier Trust Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Rentokil Initial PLC (NYSE:RTO - Free Report) by 76.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,052 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,991 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Rentokil Initial were worth $73,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 416.9% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 115.5% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 668.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Rentokil Initial during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 67.4% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on RTO shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a report on Monday, July 21st. Berenberg Bank upgraded Rentokil Initial to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Rentokil Initial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Rentokil Initial to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Rentokil Initial Trading Down 1.1%

RTO stock opened at $29.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.95. Rentokil Initial PLC has a 12-month low of $19.60 and a 12-month high of $30.10. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $25.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.25.

Rentokil Initial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.2738 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a yield of 240.0%. Rentokil Initial's dividend payout ratio is 21.85%.

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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