Values First Advisors Inc. Makes New $1.74 Million Investment in Rollins, Inc. $ROL

Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 30,743 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,735,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 961.4% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 605 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 75.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 75.0% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,078 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Rollins in the first quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rollins in the second quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In other news, Chairman John F. Wilson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total transaction of $1,741,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 632,727 shares in the company, valued at $36,723,475.08. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Rollins from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Rollins in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research cut Rollins from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (up previously from $63.00) on shares of Rollins in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Rollins in a report on Friday, September 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.18.

Rollins Price Performance

ROL stock opened at $55.21 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $57.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.66 and a beta of 0.69. Rollins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.34 and a 52-week high of $59.12.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $999.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.77 million. Rollins had a return on equity of 36.96% and a net margin of 13.70%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.35%.

Rollins 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.