Rollins (NYSE:ROL) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Rollins (NYSE:ROL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

ROL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on Rollins in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Rollins from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.83.

Rollins Stock Performance

NYSE ROL opened at $46.38 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $22.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.31 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.07. Rollins has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $52.16.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $911.15 million. Rollins had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Rollins will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Rollins’s payout ratio is presently 68.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In related news, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 124,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,195,794.32. The trade was a 10.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rollins

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Rollins by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 4,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Rollins by 8.8% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 16.4% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in shares of Rollins by 1.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 13,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 10,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

About Rollins

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.