Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Buys Shares of 100,877 Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 100,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,102,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ROL. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in Rollins by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 9,397,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $465,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,722 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Rollins during the third quarter worth $43,225,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 4,697.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 324,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,997,000 after buying an additional 317,353 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Rollins by 350.8% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 368,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,118,000 after acquiring an additional 286,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rollins during the 2nd quarter valued at $13,580,000. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ROL stock opened at $51.24 on Tuesday. Rollins, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.72 and a 1-year high of $52.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.38 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.53 and a 200-day moving average of $48.88.

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

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This is an increase from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ROL. Barclays assumed coverage on Rollins in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.83.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In other Rollins news, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $735,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 124,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,195,794.32. The trade was a 10.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.74, for a total transaction of $237,716.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,533,010.12. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,120 shares of company stock worth $1,209,993 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Company 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.