Intertek Group (ITRK) Competitors

Rentokil Initial (LON:RTO) and Intertek Group (LON:ITRK) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts recommend RTO or ITRK?

Rentokil Initial currently has a consensus price target of GBX 488.33, suggesting a potential upside of 39.21%. Intertek Group has a consensus price target of GBX 5,466.67, suggesting a potential upside of 13.28%. Given Rentokil Initial's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Rentokil Initial is more favorable than Intertek Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rentokil Initial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Intertek Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Which has better earnings & valuation, RTO or ITRK?

Rentokil Initial has higher revenue and earnings than Intertek Group. Rentokil Initial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intertek Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rentokil Initial	£5.38B	1.63	£389.49M	£15.59	22.50
Intertek Group	£3.34B	2.32	£307.45M	£191.86	25.15

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in RTO or ITRK?

99.0% of Rentokil Initial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.6% of Intertek Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Rentokil Initial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Intertek Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is RTO or ITRK a better dividend stock?

Rentokil Initial pays an annual dividend of GBX 9 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Intertek Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 128 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Rentokil Initial pays out 57.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Intertek Group pays out 66.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Is RTO or ITRK more profitable?

Intertek Group has a net margin of 9.19% compared to Rentokil Initial's net margin of 7.25%. Intertek Group's return on equity of 23.46% beat Rentokil Initial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rentokil Initial	7.25%	9.50%	4.11%
Intertek Group	9.19%	23.46%	9.49%

Which has more volatility & risk, RTO or ITRK?

Rentokil Initial has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intertek Group has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to RTO or ITRK?

In the previous week, Intertek Group had 1 more articles in the media than Rentokil Initial. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Intertek Group and 1 mentions for Rentokil Initial. Intertek Group's average media sentiment score of 0.51 beat Rentokil Initial's score of 0.00 indicating that Intertek Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Rentokil Initial	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Intertek Group	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Intertek Group beats Rentokil Initial on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.