Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Raises Stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 18.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 321,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,952 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned 0.07% of Rollins worth $16,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROL. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Rollins by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,011 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $972,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Rollins by 49.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 400,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,532,000 after acquiring an additional 132,457 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Rollins by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 28,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,319,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Rollins by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 375,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,390,000 after acquiring an additional 64,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in Rollins by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.74, for a total value of $237,716.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,338 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Rollins in a research report on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.83.

Rollins Price Performance

ROL opened at $48.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.78. Rollins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.61 and a 52-week high of $51.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.51 billion, a PE ratio of 50.57 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.38.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its 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 14.18% 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 last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Rollins’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Rollins’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

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.