Inspire Investing LLC Grows Position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Rollins were worth $1,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in Rollins by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 9,397,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $465,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,722 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rollins by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,275,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,821,000 after buying an additional 157,619 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Rollins by 22.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,280,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,323,000 after buying an additional 420,399 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Rollins by 1.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,167,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,655,000 after buying an additional 31,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rollins by 2.0% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 1,739,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $88,004,000 after buying an additional 34,746 shares during the period. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ROL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Rollins from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on Rollins in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.50.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In other news, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $735,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 124,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,195,794.32. This trade represents a 10.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Stock Performance

Rollins stock opened at $48.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.62 and a beta of 0.75. Rollins, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.41 and a 12 month high of $52.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $48.23 and its 200-day moving average is $48.92.

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

Rollins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.