Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 129,875 Shares of Rollins, Inc. $ROL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 7.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,571,660 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 129,875 shares during the period. Rollins comprises about 0.9% of Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Rollins were worth $88,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Rollins by 16.2% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 128,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,224,000 after buying an additional 17,845 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,208,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 158,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,958,000 after acquiring an additional 15,699 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Rollins by 78.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,282,659 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $128,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,185 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Rollins during the 2nd quarter valued at $806,000. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ROL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Rollins and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $66.00 target price on shares of Rollins and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Rollins in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Rollins from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.42.

Rollins Trading Up 1.7%

ROL stock opened at $61.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.37. Rollins, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.34 and a 52 week high of $61.84. The company has a market capitalization of $29.75 billion, a PE ratio of 57.38 and a beta of 0.79.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.03. Rollins had a net margin of 14.02% and a return on equity of 37.60%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a $0.1825 dividend. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.22%.

Insider Transactions at Rollins

In other Rollins news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 2,395 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.77, for a total transaction of $138,359.15. Following the transaction, the insider owned 34,732 shares in the company, valued at $2,006,467.64. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rollins Company Profile

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.