Rentokil Initial (RTO) Competitors

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

Is WPP or RTO 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
WPP	1.37%	5.92%	1.53%
Rentokil Initial	7.25%	9.50%	4.11%

Do analysts rate WPP or RTO?

WPP currently has a consensus target price of GBX 955, suggesting a potential upside of 81.01%. Rentokil Initial has a consensus target price of GBX 488.33, suggesting a potential upside of 39.25%. Given WPP's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe WPP is more favorable than Rentokil Initial.

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

Does the media refer more to WPP or RTO?

In the previous week, WPP had 2 more articles in the media than Rentokil Initial. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for WPP and 1 mentions for Rentokil Initial. WPP's average media sentiment score of 0.14 beat Rentokil Initial's score of 0.00 indicating that WPP is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
WPP	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
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

Is WPP or RTO a better dividend stock?

WPP pays an annual dividend of GBX 39 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.4%. Rentokil Initial pays an annual dividend of GBX 9 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. 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. Rentokil Initial pays out 57.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

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

65.3% of WPP shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.0% of Rentokil Initial shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of WPP shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Rentokil Initial 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 better valuation & earnings, WPP or RTO?

Rentokil Initial has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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
WPP	£14.89B	0.38	£203.92M	£18.93	27.87
Rentokil Initial	£5.38B	1.63	£389.49M	£15.59	22.49

Which has more risk and volatility, WPP or RTO?

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

Summary

WPP beats Rentokil Initial on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.