Barclays PLC Increases Stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 34.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 721,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 186,452 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Rollins were worth $36,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Rollins in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rollins during the second quarter worth $33,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rollins during the second quarter worth $34,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Rollins by 4,272.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 787 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in Rollins by 10,233.3% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In other news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.49, for a total value of $236,545.65. Following the sale, the insider now owns 84,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,274,129.97. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $735,730.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Rollins from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.67.

Rollins Price Performance

ROL stock opened at $48.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $23.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.80 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.15. Rollins, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.41 and a twelve month high of $52.16.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Rollins’s payout ratio is 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.