Northern Trust Corp Raises Position in Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO)

Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO - Free Report) by 94.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 462,657 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 225,214 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.09% of Rentokil Initial worth $11,714,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Rentokil Initial by 65.2% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,505 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 15,208.3% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,611 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Rentokil Initial by 140.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,402 shares of the company's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the period. 9.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rentokil Initial Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE RTO traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $23.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 675,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 781,271. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.96. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $22.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Rentokil Initial plc has a twelve month low of $19.60 and a twelve month high of $34.07.

Rentokil Initial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.3825 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. Rentokil Initial's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on RTO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated 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 research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rentokil Initial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

About Rentokil Initial

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.