Rentokil Initial (NYSE:RTO) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Rentokil Initial PLC (NYSE:RTO) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $29.43, but opened at $24.20. Rentokil Initial shares last traded at $24.05, with a volume of 689,039 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.32).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RTO. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Rentokil Initial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Rentokil Initial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research cut Rentokil Initial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.50.

Institutional Trading of Rentokil Initial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Rentokil Initial by 3.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,591,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,329,000 after acquiring an additional 490,885 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 60.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,650,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,373,000 after purchasing an additional 2,511,135 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Rentokil Initial by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,463,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,558,000 after purchasing an additional 267,204 shares in the last quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P raised its position in Rentokil Initial by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P now owns 1,733,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,067,000 after purchasing an additional 244,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summitry LLC raised its position in Rentokil Initial by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 1,475,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,482,000 after purchasing an additional 25,170 shares during the last quarter. 9.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rentokil Initial Trading Down 18.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.32.

Rentokil Initial Company Profile

Rentokil Initial PLC is a global business services company specializing in pest control, hygiene and workwear services. Headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom, the company delivers outsourced solutions designed to protect people, preserve assets and enhance workplaces for both commercial and residential customers.

Under the Rentokil Pest Control brand, the company offers services ranging from routine inspections and treatment of insects, rodents and birds to specialised programmes for food manufacturing and healthcare environments.