Rentokil Initial (LON:RTO) Trading Down 19.5% After Analyst Downgrade

Rentokil Initial plc (LON:RTO) shares traded down 19.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from GBX 477 to GBX 431. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Rentokil Initial traded as low as GBX 344.60 and last traded at GBX 352. Approximately 63,397,602 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 76% from the average daily volume of 35,922,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 437.13.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on RTO. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Rentokil Initial from GBX 575 to GBX 550 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 550 target price on shares of Rentokil Initial in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Rentokil Initial from GBX 540 to GBX 480 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 463.

Rentokil Initial Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 438.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 460.48. The company has a market cap of £8.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 45.09.

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. The company provides hygiene services, including the provision and maintenance of products, such as soap and hand sanitizer dispensers, hand dryers, air care and purification, cubicle and surface sanitizers, feminine hygiene units, toilet paper dispensers, and floor protection mats.