Rollins Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:ROL)

Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 10,334 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 605% compared to the average volume of 1,465 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ROL. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (down from $55.00) on shares of Rollins in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Rollins from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Rollins and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Rollins from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Rollins from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.47.

Rollins Stock Up 1.0%

ROL traded up $0.34 on Wednesday, hitting $33.68. The company had a trading volume of 2,665,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,521,311. Rollins has a 52-week low of $29.28 and a 52-week high of $66.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.73.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. Rollins had a net margin of 13.55% and a return on equity of 38.81%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Rollins will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1825. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.36%.

Institutional Trading of Rollins

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Rollins in the second quarter valued at about $1,204,334,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Rollins by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,561,228 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $566,046,000 after acquiring an additional 488,046 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,669,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,974,000 after acquiring an additional 87,139 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Rollins by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,131,337 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $167,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Rollins by 188.2% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,908,818 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $155,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899,515 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Company Profile

Rollins, Inc is a provider of pest and termite control services for residential and commercial customers. The company offers protection against common pests such as ants, cockroaches, rodents, termites, mosquitoes and bedbugs, along with wildlife control and other specialty services.

Rollins serves customers through a portfolio of regional and international brands, including Orkin, the company’s best-known pest control business; HomeTeam Pest Defense; Western Pest Services; Critter Control; and other local and specialized operations.