Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) Shares Gap Up to $25.61

Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $25.61, but opened at $26.23. Rentokil Initial shares last traded at $26.33, with a volume of 116,184 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RTO. Bank of America cut shares of Rentokil Initial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $40.00 to $29.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Rentokil Initial from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th.

Rentokil Initial Trading Up 3.3 %

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $28.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.59.

Rentokil Initial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.3784 per share. This is a boost from Rentokil Initial's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a yield of 1.6%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rentokil Initial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley purchased a new position in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 4th quarter valued at $87,191,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 4th quarter valued at $77,547,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new position in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 4th quarter valued at $51,291,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Rentokil Initial during the 4th quarter valued at $21,535,000. Finally, Gates Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,155,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $147,490,000 after purchasing an additional 528,409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.91% of the company's stock.

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.