Rentokil Initial (LON:RTO) Raised to Buy at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group upgraded Rentokil Initial (LON:RTO) to a "Buy" and raised its price target to **GBX 540** (from GBX 430), implying roughly a 10% upside from the stock's recent level.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with five Buy, one Hold and one Sell, a consensus price target of **GBX 450.71**, and Jefferies also lifting its target to GBX 550 and maintaining a Buy rating.
• Rentokil is trading near its 52-week high (opened GBX 489.40; high GBX 490.50) with a market cap of £12.31bn, a P/E of 38.14 and a high debt-to-equity ratio of 111.54, signaling elevated leverage despite growth expectations.

Rentokil Initial (LON:RTO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at UBS Group to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Thursday,Digital Look reports. The brokerage presently has a GBX 540 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of GBX 430. UBS Group's price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.34% from the company's current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on RTO. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "hold" rating and set a GBX 390 target price on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Rentokil Initial from GBX 540 to GBX 550 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of GBX 450.71.

Rentokil Initial Stock Performance

LON:RTO opened at GBX 489.40 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is GBX 459.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 422.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 111.54. The stock has a market cap of £12.31 billion, a PE ratio of 38.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.49. Rentokil Initial has a fifty-two week low of GBX 306 and a fifty-two week high of GBX 490.50.

Rentokil Initial Company 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. The company provides hygiene services, including the provision and maintenance of products, such as soap and hand sanitizer dispensers, hand dryers, air care and purification, cubicle and surface sanitizers, feminine hygiene units, toilet paper dispensers, and floor protection mats.

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