Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.00.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Rollins from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Rollins in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company.

Rollins Price Performance

NYSE:ROL opened at $44.90 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $44.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.11. The firm has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.45, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.63. Rollins has a one year low of $32.19 and a one year high of $47.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. The firm had revenue of $748.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.12 million. Rollins had a return on equity of 37.47% and a net margin of 13.94%. The company’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Rollins will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Rollins’s payout ratio is 67.42%.

Insider Transactions at Rollins

In other Rollins news, CFO Kenneth D. Krause sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total value of $230,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,575,422.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Kenneth D. Krause sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total transaction of $230,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,575,422.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 10,000 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.05, for a total transaction of $410,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,093,054.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,824 shares of company stock worth $994,558. 4.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rollins

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Rollins during the 4th quarter worth about $256,862,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Rollins by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,020,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,195,307,000 after acquiring an additional 5,041,371 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Rollins by 40.6% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 9,293,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $346,923,000 after acquiring an additional 2,682,017 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rollins during the fourth quarter worth about $77,075,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 217.3% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,468,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690,668 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

About Rollins

Rollins, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides pest and wildlife control services to residential and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. The company offers pest control services to residential properties protecting from common pests, including rodents, insects, and wildlife.