Values First Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,353 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Values First Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 15.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,353 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Rollins were worth $876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Rollins by 4,900.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 83,154 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,206,000 after buying an additional 81,491 shares in the last quarter. Axecap Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rollins in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $943,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Rollins by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 61,950 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Rollins in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,538,000. Finally, Crew Capital Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Rollins by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 21,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after buying an additional 2,607 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ROL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.80.

Rollins Trading Down 6.6 %

Shares of NYSE ROL opened at $46.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.78. Rollins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.58 and a 52-week high of $51.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $49.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.12. The stock has a market cap of $22.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.45 and a beta of 0.70.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 14.23% and a return on equity of 40.10%. The business had revenue of $916.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $911.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 1 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,686 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.82, for a total transaction of $224,084.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,999.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.74, for a total value of $237,716.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 89,338 shares in the company, valued at $4,533,010.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,686 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.82, for a total transaction of $224,084.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 95,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,999.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,056 shares of company stock valued at $698,347 over the last ninety days. 4.69% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.