Short Interest in Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) Decreases By 18.0%

Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,960,000 shares, a decrease of 18.0% from the August 31st total of 2,390,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 706,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on RTO shares. Redburn Atlantic lowered Rentokil Initial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group raised shares of Rentokil Initial from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Barclays upgraded shares of Rentokil Initial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Rentokil Initial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

Rentokil Initial Stock Down 2.0 %

RTO traded down $0.50 on Monday, reaching $25.12. 102,534 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 696,853. Rentokil Initial has a twelve month low of $23.39 and a twelve month high of $37.44. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.61 and its 200-day moving average is $28.90.

Rentokil Initial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.2034 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rentokil Initial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial in the first quarter worth about $575,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Rentokil Initial by 345,196.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,560,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560,289 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,025,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,949,000 after purchasing an additional 246,253 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Rentokil Initial by 5.7% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,015,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,768,000 after purchasing an additional 109,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gates Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Rentokil Initial by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,155,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,490,000 after buying an additional 528,409 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.91% of the company’s stock.

Rentokil Initial Company Profile

Rentokil Initial plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides route-based services in North America, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and internationally. It offers a range of pest control services for rodents, and flying and crawling insects, as well as other forms of wildlife management for commercial customers.