Rentokil Initial (RTO) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in RTO or WPP?

WPP received 713 more outperform votes than Rentokil Initial when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 78.55% of users gave WPP an outperform vote while only 65.70% of users gave Rentokil Initial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Rentokil Initial	Outperform Votes 613 65.70%	Underperform Votes 320 34.30%
WPP	Outperform Votes 1326 78.55%	Underperform Votes 362 21.45%

Which has more risk and volatility, RTO or WPP?

Rentokil Initial has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WPP has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is RTO or WPP more profitable?

Rentokil Initial has a net margin of 7.25% compared to WPP's net margin of 1.37%. Rentokil Initial's return on equity of 9.50% beat WPP's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rentokil Initial	7.25%	9.50%	4.11%
WPP	1.37%	5.92%	1.53%

Does the media refer more to RTO or WPP?

In the previous week, WPP had 1 more articles in the media than Rentokil Initial. MarketBeat recorded 1 mentions for WPP and 0 mentions for Rentokil Initial. WPP's average media sentiment score of 0.20 beat Rentokil Initial's score of 0.00 indicating that WPP is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Rentokil Initial	Neutral
WPP	Neutral

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in RTO or WPP?

99.0% of Rentokil Initial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of WPP shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Rentokil Initial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of WPP shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is RTO or WPP a better dividend stock?

Rentokil Initial pays an annual dividend of GBX 9 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. WPP pays an annual dividend of GBX 39 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.5%. Rentokil Initial pays out 57.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WPP pays out 206.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, RTO or WPP?

Rentokil Initial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than WPP. Rentokil Initial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WPP, 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	1.64	£389.49M	£15.59	22.58
WPP	£14.89B	0.38	£203.92M	£18.93	27.52

Do analysts rate RTO or WPP?

Rentokil Initial currently has a consensus price target of GBX 488.33, suggesting a potential upside of 38.69%. WPP has a consensus price target of GBX 955, suggesting a potential upside of 83.30%. Given WPP's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe WPP is more favorable than Rentokil Initial.

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
WPP	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Summary

WPP beats Rentokil Initial on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.