Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE:RTO) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $23.08, but opened at $22.44. Rentokil Initial shares last traded at $22.63, with a volume of 84,594 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Rentokil Initial Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.27.

Rentokil Initial Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RTO. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in Rentokil Initial by 81.3% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rentokil Initial in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Rentokil Initial by 403.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 843 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC acquired a new position in Rentokil Initial during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Rentokil Initial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. 9.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Rentokil Initial

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.