Stock of the Week: Rentokil Initial

VIDEO: Pest control remains key to this business and North America is a big focus

James Gard 24 April, 2023 | 9:13AM
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

 

 

Welcome to Morningstar. Making its debut as stock of the week is Rentokil Initial, which has just put out a trading update for the most recent quarter.

The company made its name in pest control, but it has now expanded into office hygiene and wellbeing. So you’ll typically see its products in office washrooms etc. But pest control remains big business and is still 94% of group profits. It’s probably as close to a recession-proof industry as you can get, apart from funerals. Apparently big cities are struggling with rodents again, leading New York to appoint a rat czar – the job ad specified a “highly motivated and somewhat bloodthirsty” individual. The Big Apple describes this as “rat mitigation”. Extermination, mitigation – the result ends up the same. Rentokil can now monitor individual rodents remotely using technology.

And there appears to be a lot of pest control work in the US. Rentokil’s North American revenue more than doubled in the first quarter - which includes the takeover of US firm Terminix in October last year – and now makes up 60% of total revenue.

After the update, Morningstar analysts have modestly upgraded the full-year profits forecasts to just shy of one billion pounds for the full year. Rentokil Initial is assigned a wide economic moat and the shares are roughly fairly valued around six pounds per share. Year to date the shares are up 16% and have doubled over 5 years. Dividend wise, it’s not a massive yielder, but has been steadily increasing its dividends over the last decade.

Looking ahead, our analysts argue that the company can still benefit from future growth and consolidation in pest control and hygiene services industries.

For Morningstar, I’m James Gard.

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

About Author

James Gard

James Gard  is senior editor for Morningstar.co.uk

 

© Copyright 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use        Privacy Policy        Modern Slavery Statement        Cookie Settings        Disclosures