JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stock Position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 22.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,280,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 420,399 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.47% of Rollins worth $115,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Rollins in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rollins in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Rollins by 4,272.2% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 787 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Rollins during the third quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Rollins in the third quarter worth $71,000. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ROL. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Rollins from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rollins from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.00.

Rollins Price Performance

NYSE ROL opened at $46.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.28 and a beta of 0.72. Rollins, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $52.16. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $48.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.19.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $911.15 million. Rollins had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The firm’s revenue 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 analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Rollins’s payout ratio is 68.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In other Rollins news, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $735,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 124,214 shares in the company, valued at $6,195,794.32. This represents a 10.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.