Rollins (NYSE:ROL) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $54.41 and last traded at $54.32, with a volume of 1867128 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ROL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rollins currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Rollins Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.35 billion, a PE ratio of 56.58 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average is $51.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.62.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Rollins had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 37.94%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Rollins’s payout ratio is 68.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Rollins news, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total value of $171,194.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $509,866.20. This trade represents a 25.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 13,193 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $675,217.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,916,600.68. This trade represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,338 shares of company stock valued at $945,882 in the last three months. 4.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rollins

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Rollins during the fourth quarter worth $128,000. Cim LLC grew its stake in Rollins by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 26,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Rollins in the 4th quarter valued at about $81,747,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Rollins by 143.0% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 125,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,802,000 after acquiring an additional 73,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Rollins by 174.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 23,499 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 14,948 shares during the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.