Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $1.76 Million Stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 11.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,564 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Rollins were worth $1,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ROL. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Rollins during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Rollins during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 43.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 10,233.3% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Rollins during the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In other news, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $735,730.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 124,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,195,794.32. This represents a 10.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.74, for a total transaction of $237,716.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,338 shares in the company, valued at $4,533,010.12. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,120 shares of company stock worth $1,209,993 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROL has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.83.

Rollins Stock Performance

NYSE ROL opened at $51.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.29 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.95. Rollins, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.72 and a twelve month high of $52.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $916.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $911.15 million. Rollins had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 38.67%. Rollins’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Rollins’s payout ratio is 68.75%.

Rollins 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.