Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Cuts Stake in Rollins, Inc. $ROL

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lowered its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 10,931 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Rollins were worth $1,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROL. Red Spruce Capital LLC boosted its stake in Rollins by 1.2% in the second quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 15,875 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rollins by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,601 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Rollins by 2.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 10,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Rollins by 2.8% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 8,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Keel Point LLC grew its holdings in Rollins by 5.4% during the second quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Rollins from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $66.00 price target on shares of Rollins and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $55.00 price target on shares of Rollins and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Rollins in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rollins presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.92.

Rollins Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Rollins stock opened at $60.66 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Rollins, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.34 and a 12-month high of $61.84. The company has a market cap of $29.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.69 and a beta of 0.79.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.03. Rollins had a net margin of 14.02% and a return on equity of 37.60%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. Rollins’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This is an increase from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Rollins’s payout ratio is currently 68.22%.

Key Rollins News

Here are the key news stories impacting Rollins this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Seth Rollins (WWE) explains the origin of his ring name — human interest/wrestling background; not related to Rollins, Inc. Seth Rollins reveals how he got his WWE in-ring name
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple pieces report Seth Rollins confirming how long his WWE contract has left (reports say ~3 years remaining) — talent/contract news for WWE, not Rollins, Inc. Seth Rollins Says His WWE Contract Is Up In Three Years
• Neutral Sentiment: Updates on Seth Rollins’ injury and return timeline (reports suggesting 3–4 months until return) — clearly sports/injury coverage, not corporate news for ROL. Seth Rollins Says He Has ‘Three Or Four Months’ Left Before Returning From Injury
• Neutral Sentiment: Interviews and opinion pieces: Seth Rollins discusses WWE’s Saudi shows and “blood money” comparisons with U.S. pay, and criticizes wrestling figures — media/personal views, not related to Rollins, Inc. Seth Rollins On WWE In Saudi Arabia
• Neutral Sentiment: Misc. wrestling commentary: Seth Rollins criticizes Jim Cornette and Vince Russo and recounts being nearly fired by Triple H — personality/media stories only. Seth Rollins Shoots On Jim Cornette & Vince Russo
• Neutral Sentiment: Sports items about other athletes named Rollins (Ryan Rollins helping the Bucks; Jimmy Rollins Hall of Fame discussion) — sports coverage, not corporate developments for ROL. With Giannis out, Kevin Porter Jr. and Ryan Rollins click as Bucks snap 3-game skid

Insider Transactions at Rollins

In related news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 2,396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total transaction of $143,113.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,627 shares in the company, valued at $1,889,080.71. The trade was a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.47% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Profile

Rollins, Inc (NYSE: ROL) is a provider of pest and termite control services operating through a network of subsidiaries and franchises. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company offers a broad range of pest management solutions for both residential and commercial customers, positioning itself as a specialist in protecting property and public health from pests and vectors.

Its service offerings include general pest control, termite inspection and treatment, bed bug remediation, mosquito and vector control, wildlife exclusion, and related specialty services.