Rollins (NYSE:ROL) Downgraded by StockNews.com

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

ROL has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.80.

Rollins Price Performance

Shares of ROL opened at $46.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a PE ratio of 49.51 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Rollins has a 1-year low of $35.54 and a 1-year high of $51.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $49.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.16.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued 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). Rollins had a return on equity of 40.10% and a net margin of 14.23%. The firm had revenue of $916.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $911.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Rollins will post 1 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is an increase from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. Rollins’s payout ratio is presently 63.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,686 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.82, for a total transaction of $224,084.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,999.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,686 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.82, for a total transaction of $224,084.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 95,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,999.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.74, for a total transaction of $237,716.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,533,010.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,056 shares of company stock worth $698,347 over the last ninety days. 4.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rollins

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROL. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Rollins by 4.7% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,547 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC lifted its position in Rollins by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 4,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in Rollins by 43.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Rollins by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Rollins by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Company 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.