Rentokil Initial (LON:RTO) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Rentokil Initial plc (LON:RTO) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as GBX 311.30 ($3.98) and last traded at GBX 317.30 ($4.05), with a volume of 54341910 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 335.18 ($4.28).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on RTO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Rentokil Initial from GBX 485 ($6.20) to GBX 465 ($5.94) and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Rentokil Initial from GBX 440 ($5.62) to GBX 430 ($5.49) and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Rentokil Initial Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 113.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 370.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 384.99. The stock has a market cap of £7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.55.

Rentokil Initial (LON:RTO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported GBX 21.25 ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Rentokil Initial had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 7.25%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Rentokil Initial plc will post 25.8725561 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rentokil Initial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of GBX 5.93 ($0.08) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Rentokil Initial’s previous dividend of $3.16. Rentokil Initial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andy M. Ransom sold 453,914 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 356 ($4.55), for a total transaction of £1,615,933.84 ($2,064,827.29). 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.