Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Purchases Shares of 7,665 Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,665 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROL. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in Rollins by 1.5% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 10,023,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $489,036,000 after buying an additional 148,316 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 9,397,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $465,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,722 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,275,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,821,000 after purchasing an additional 157,619 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Rollins by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,825,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $137,860,000 after purchasing an additional 133,100 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Rollins by 1.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,167,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,655,000 after purchasing an additional 31,458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rollins news, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $735,730.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed 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 that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.49, for a total transaction of $236,545.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 84,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,274,129.97. This trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on ROL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Rollins from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Rollins Price Performance

Rollins stock opened at $48.56 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.58 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Rollins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.41 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). Rollins had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The business had revenue of $916.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $911.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is an increase from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.75%.

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.