Rollins (NYSE:ROL) Chairman John Wilson Sells 1,520 Shares

Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) Chairman John Wilson sold 1,520 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.40, for a total transaction of $90,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 607,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,090,667.80. The trade was a 0.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Rollins Trading Up 1.3%

Rollins stock opened at $60.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.26 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.85. Rollins, Inc. has a one year low of $45.77 and a one year high of $61.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Rollins had a return on equity of 37.60% and a net margin of 14.02%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.1825 dividend. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Rollins’s payout ratio is 68.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ROL. Barclays raised Rollins from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $55.00 price target on Rollins and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Rollins in a report on Friday, September 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Rollins from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rollins presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rollins

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Rollins during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $218,593,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Rollins by 196.2% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,542,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $199,937,000 after buying an additional 2,346,592 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in shares of Rollins by 1,923.1% in the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,878,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,964,000 after buying an additional 1,785,300 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Rollins by 41.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,657,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,224,000 after buying an additional 1,649,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,720,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,156,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,306 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

About Rollins

Rollins, Inc (NYSE: ROL) is a provider of pest and termite control services operating through a network of subsidiaries and franchises. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company offers a broad range of pest management solutions for both residential and commercial customers, positioning itself as a specialist in protecting property and public health from pests and vectors.

Its service offerings include general pest control, termite inspection and treatment, bed bug remediation, mosquito and vector control, wildlife exclusion, and related specialty services.