Short Interest in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) Declines By 13.0%

Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) saw a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 9,126,691 shares, a decrease of 13.0% from the February 26th total of 10,486,601 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,951,980 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $67.00 price target on shares of Rollins and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group set a $65.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Rollins and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday, December 29th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Rollins currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.08.

Rollins Price Performance

Shares of ROL stock opened at $53.06 on Tuesday. Rollins has a 1-year low of $49.73 and a 1-year high of $66.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $59.35 and its 200 day moving average is $58.98. The company has a market cap of $25.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.68, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $912.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.08 million. Rollins had a return on equity of 38.16% and a net margin of 14.00%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Rollins will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Rollins’s payout ratio is presently 66.97%.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In other Rollins news, CEO Jerry Jr. Gahlhoff sold 4,510 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total transaction of $285,302.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 328,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,773,698.36. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman John F. Wilson sold 7,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total value of $476,853.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 600,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,959,099.74. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 69,435 shares of company stock worth $4,321,384 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rollins

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROL. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Rollins in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 528.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 421 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Rollins during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rollins in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Rollins during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

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.