Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Invests $204,000 in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Rollins in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Rollins in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in Rollins by 43.9% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 774 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 10,233.3% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Rollins during the third quarter worth $52,000. 51.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rollins Stock Performance

NYSE:ROL opened at $49.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.78. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.03 and a fifty-two week high of $52.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.64. The company has a market capitalization of $24.17 billion, a PE ratio of 51.99 and a beta of 0.70.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $916.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $911.15 million. Rollins had a return on equity of 38.67% and a net margin of 14.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ROL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays began coverage on Rollins in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rollins news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.74, for a total value of $237,716.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,533,010.12. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.