Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) Stake Lifted by Markel Group Inc.

Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,453,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Rollins were worth $73,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ROL. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 4.5% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Rollins during the first quarter worth approximately $252,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Rollins during the first quarter worth approximately $201,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Rollins by 8.1% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 7,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rollins by 328.2% during the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 38,268 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,771,000 after buying an additional 29,331 shares in the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.83.

Rollins Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE:ROL opened at $50.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.31 billion, a PE ratio of 52.28 and a beta of 0.70. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.61 and a fifty-two week high of $51.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $49.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.44.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). Rollins had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The company had revenue of $916.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $911.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is a positive change from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.75%.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In other Rollins news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.49, for a total value of $236,545.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 84,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,274,129.97. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Profile

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.