Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Takes $6.03 Million Position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 130,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,031,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Rollins by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 38,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,767,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Rollins by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 37,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Rollins by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Rollins from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.83.

Rollins Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ROL opened at $50.69 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.71. Rollins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.72 and a 1 year high of $56.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $24.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.80 and a beta of 0.80.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Rollins had a return on equity of 37.94% and a net margin of 13.76%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Rollins’s payout ratio is 68.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In related news, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total transaction of $171,194.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $509,866.20. This trade represents a 25.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 13,193 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $675,217.74. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 76,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,916,600.68. This represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,338 shares of company stock valued at $945,882 in the last ninety days. 4.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.