WPP (WPP) Competitors

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

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, 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	£5.38B	1.71	£389.49M	£15.59	23.48
WPP	£14.89B	0.29	£203.92M	£18.93	20.82

Do analysts prefer RTO or WPP?

Rentokil Initial currently has a consensus target price of GBX 435, indicating a potential upside of 18.85%. WPP has a consensus target price of GBX 480, indicating a potential upside of 21.80%. Given WPP's 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	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
WPP	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

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%

Do institutionals and insiders believe 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 hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock 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 a better dividend stock?

Rentokil Initial pays an annual dividend of GBX 9 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. WPP pays an annual dividend of GBX 39 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.9%. 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.

Does the media refer more to RTO or WPP?

In the previous week, Rentokil Initial had 2 more articles in the media than WPP. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Rentokil Initial and 0 mentions for WPP. WPP's average media sentiment score of 0.40 beat Rentokil Initial's score of -0.32 indicating that WPP is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Rentokil Initial	Neutral
WPP	Neutral

Summary

Rentokil Initial beats WPP on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.