Motco Purchases Shares of 8,929 Rollins, Inc. $ROL

Motco acquired a new position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $524,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ROL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Rollins by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,239,976 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,988,239,000 after purchasing an additional 503,433 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,102,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $682,801,000 after buying an additional 274,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Rollins by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,379,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $527,446,000 after buying an additional 432,067 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 41.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,657,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,649,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Rollins in the second quarter worth about $218,593,000. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rollins Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of ROL opened at $58.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.09 and a beta of 0.79. Rollins, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.34 and a 12-month high of $61.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Rollins had a net margin of 14.02% and a return on equity of 37.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.1825 dividend. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Rollins’s payout ratio is currently 68.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rollins news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 2,396 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total transaction of $143,113.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,889,080.71. The trade was a 7.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised Rollins from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $66.00 price target on Rollins and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Rollins in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Rollins in a report on Friday, September 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $63.00 price target on shares of Rollins and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rollins currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.92.

Rollins Company Profile

Rollins, Inc (NYSE: ROL) is a provider of pest and termite control services operating through a network of subsidiaries and franchises. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company offers a broad range of pest management solutions for both residential and commercial customers, positioning itself as a specialist in protecting property and public health from pests and vectors.

Its service offerings include general pest control, termite inspection and treatment, bed bug remediation, mosquito and vector control, wildlife exclusion, and related specialty services.