Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) Position Lifted by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Rollins were worth $133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Rollins by 185.0% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 384,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,781,000 after buying an additional 249,860 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 4,697.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 324,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,997,000 after acquiring an additional 317,353 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rollins during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $13,580,000. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Rollins by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 142,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,593,000 after acquiring an additional 27,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Rollins by 3.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,236,421 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $60,325,000 after purchasing an additional 43,144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 124,214 shares in the company, valued at $6,195,794.32. This trade represents a 10.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.74, for a total value of $237,716.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,533,010.12. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,120 shares of company stock valued at $1,209,993. Company insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ROL opened at $50.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $49.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.83. The company has a market cap of $24.52 billion, a PE ratio of 52.74 and a beta of 0.70. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.62 and a fifty-two week high of $52.16.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its quarterly 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). Rollins had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The business had revenue of $916.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $911.15 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ROL. StockNews.com lowered shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Rollins in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.83.

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.