Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL – Get Rating) traded up 8.9% during trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $39.22 and last traded at $39.15. 31,798 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 97% from the average session volume of 1,171,087 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.94.The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a positive change from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Rollins’s payout ratio is currently 59.70%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts have commented on ROL shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Rollins in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Rollins in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Rollins in a report on Tuesday, July 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Rollins from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 6th.
Rollins Stock Up 9.0 %
The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $19.29 billion, a PE ratio of 58.04 and a beta of 0.58.
Rollins (NYSE:ROL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The business services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. Rollins had a return on equity of 30.38% and a net margin of 12.99%. The firm had revenue of $714.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.00 million. Analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.
Insider Transactions at Rollins
In other news, COO Jerry Jr. Gahlhoff sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 176,539 shares in the company, valued at $6,355,404. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Jerry Jr. Gahlhoff sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $144,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 176,539 shares in the company, valued at $6,355,404. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary W. Rollins sold 195,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.88, for a total value of $7,224,423.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 219,459,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,093,665,216.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,221,283 shares of company stock worth $156,287,112 over the last quarter. 53.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Trading of Rollins
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Rollins by 42.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 27,590,801 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $967,057,000 after buying an additional 8,215,395 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Rollins by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,485,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $893,283,000 after buying an additional 384,126 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in Rollins by 169.8% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 10,486,980 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $367,569,000 after buying an additional 6,600,504 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rollins by 0.8% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,094,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $247,755,000 after acquiring an additional 57,912 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Rollins by 0.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,133,825 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,840,000 after acquiring an additional 28,318 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.98% of the company’s stock.
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.