Rentokil Initial (RTO) Competitors

Rentokil Initial (LON:RTO) and WPP (LON:WPP) are both mid-cap business services 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, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Do analysts rate RTO or WPP?

Rentokil Initial presently has a consensus price target of GBX 397.25, indicating a potential upside of 0.77%. WPP has a consensus price target of GBX 480, indicating a potential upside of 29.87%. Given WPP's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe WPP is more favorable than Rentokil Initial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rentokil Initial	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
WPP	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, RTO or WPP?

Rentokil Initial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than WPP. WPP is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rentokil Initial, 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	£6.92B	1.43	£389.49M	£0.13	3,071.74
WPP	£14.18B	0.28	£203.92M	£0.35	1,068.21

Is RTO or WPP a better dividend stock?

Rentokil Initial pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. WPP pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.39 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Rentokil Initial pays out 92.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. WPP pays out 113.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of RTO or WPP?

78.6% of Rentokil Initial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.3% of WPP shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Rentokil Initial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of WPP shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, RTO or WPP?

Rentokil Initial has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WPP has a beta of 1.13, meaning 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 favor RTO or WPP?

In the previous week, Rentokil Initial had 2 more articles in the media than WPP. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Rentokil Initial and 4 mentions for WPP. WPP's average media sentiment score of 0.46 beat Rentokil Initial's score of 0.12 indicating that WPP 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)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
WPP	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

Rentokil Initial beats WPP on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.