First Trust Advisors LP Increases Holdings in Rollins, Inc. $ROL

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 156.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 943,960 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 575,242 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Rollins were worth $55,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Rollins by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,663,000 after buying an additional 1,620 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 23,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,282,000 after acquiring an additional 6,859 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 75.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rollins by 587.7% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Stock Performance

ROL opened at $56.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $61.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.24. Rollins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.73 and a 1 year high of $66.14. The stock has a market cap of $27.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). Rollins had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 38.16%. The firm had revenue of $912.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $925.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.1825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROL. UBS Group set a $65.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $67.00 price objective on Rollins and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Rollins in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Rollins in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.08.

Insider Transactions at Rollins

In related news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 14,201 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.36, for a total value of $842,971.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 55,977 shares in the company, valued at $3,322,794.72. The trade was a 20.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jerry Jr. Gahlhoff sold 4,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total value of $285,302.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 328,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,773,698.36. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 73,351 shares of company stock worth $4,554,785 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.47% of the company’s stock.

About Rollins

Rollins, Inc (NYSE: ROL) is a provider of pest and termite control services operating through a network of subsidiaries and franchises. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company offers a broad range of pest management solutions for both residential and commercial customers, positioning itself as a specialist in protecting property and public health from pests and vectors.

Its service offerings include general pest control, termite inspection and treatment, bed bug remediation, mosquito and vector control, wildlife exclusion, and related specialty services.