Rollins, Inc. $ROL Position Lifted by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,163,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 626,866 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.10% of Rollins worth $608,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Rollins in the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 4,509 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 96,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,772,000 after buying an additional 2,016 shares during the last quarter. Eukles Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Eukles Asset Management now owns 22,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 20,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,246,000 after buying an additional 10,783 shares during the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rollins Stock Down 3.8%

ROL stock opened at $47.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.85 and a fifty-two week high of $66.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.06. The stock has a market cap of $22.88 billion, a PE ratio of 43.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.79.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24. Rollins had a net margin of 13.77% and a return on equity of 38.37%. The business had revenue of $906.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $895.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.1825 dividend. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Rollins in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $51.00 price target on shares of Rollins and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Rollins from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Rollins from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

About Rollins

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.