Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,320,000 shares, a drop of 20.2% from the July 15th total of 6,670,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In other news, CEO Jerry Jr. Gahlhoff sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.20, for a total value of $566,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 288,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,625,271.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,686 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 95,023 shares in the company, valued at $4,543,999.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jerry Jr. Gahlhoff sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.20, for a total transaction of $566,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 288,671 shares in the company, valued at $13,625,271.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,017 shares of company stock valued at $948,707. 4.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rollins

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Rollins in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,862,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new position in Rollins in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,075,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 217.3% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,468,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $107,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,690,668 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. bought a new position in Rollins during the fourth quarter worth about $47,089,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Rollins by 102.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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 assumed coverage on Rollins in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Rollins from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Rollins from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.83.

Rollins Stock Performance

NYSE ROL traded down $0.87 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.18. 1,742,127 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,791,008. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.13, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.70. Rollins has a fifty-two week low of $32.19 and a fifty-two week high of $50.87.

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

Rollins Announces Dividend

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

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.