New England Research & Management Inc. Sells 1,425 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

New England Research & Management Inc. cut its stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,425 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Rollins were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Rollins in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,862,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new position in Rollins in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,075,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Rollins by 217.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,468,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $107,804,000 after buying an additional 1,690,668 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Rollins in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,089,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Rollins by 102.8% in the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,688,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,744,000 after buying an additional 855,882 shares during the period. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Rollins from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised Rollins from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.60.

Rollins Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE ROL traded up $0.23 on Tuesday, reaching $47.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,611,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,801,711. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s fifty day moving average is $48.46 and its 200 day moving average is $46.01. Rollins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.19 and a 52-week high of $50.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27. The business had revenue of $891.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $895.02 million. Rollins had a return on equity of 40.10% and a net margin of 14.23%. Rollins’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. Rollins’s payout ratio is currently 67.42%.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In related news, CFO Kenneth D. Krause sold 3,331 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.50, for a total value of $158,222.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,310,482.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Rollins news, CFO Kenneth D. Krause sold 3,331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.50, for a total value of $158,222.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 90,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,310,482.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,686 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.82, for a total value of $224,084.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 95,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,999.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,017 shares of company stock valued at $948,707. 4.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.