StockNews.com Upgrades Rollins (NYSE:ROL) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rollins (NYSE:ROL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Rollins from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rollins presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $46.60.

Rollins Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ROL opened at $49.60 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $47.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Rollins has a one year low of $32.19 and a one year high of $50.83. The company has a market capitalization of $24.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.70.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. Rollins had a return on equity of 37.73% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $748.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Rollins will post 1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. Rollins’s payout ratio is 67.42%.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In related news, CFO Kenneth D. Krause sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 94,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,233,510. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Rollins news, CEO Jerry Jr. Gahlhoff sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.20, for a total value of $566,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 288,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,625,271.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kenneth D. Krause sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 94,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,233,510. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,331 shares of company stock worth $949,623 in the last 90 days. 4.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rollins

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 268,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,706,000 after buying an additional 18,510 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Rollins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,617,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,865,122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $81,452,000 after buying an additional 160,373 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 171,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,498,000 after buying an additional 25,709 shares during the period. Finally, Crown Oak Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Rollins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,547,000. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

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.