Blair William & Co. IL Increases Stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,176,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 117,013 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 0.45% of Rollins worth $100,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROL. Eastern Bank grew its stake in Rollins by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of Rollins by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 38,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,767,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 37,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Rollins by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 10,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Rollins by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of ROL stock opened at $53.03 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $50.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.72 billion, a PE ratio of 55.24 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Rollins, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.72 and a 1-year high of $53.72.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Rollins had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 37.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total value of $171,194.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,866.20. This trade represents a 25.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total value of $99,469.38. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,131,937.94. This represents a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 18,338 shares of company stock worth $945,882. Company insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ROL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

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.