Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 302 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 302 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Rollins were worth $2,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,154,722 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in Rollins during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,225,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Rollins during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,980,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Rollins by 96.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,000,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,046,000 after acquiring an additional 490,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Rollins by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,280,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,323,000 after acquiring an additional 420,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ROL. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rollins from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Rollins Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROL opened at $51.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.45 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.88 and a fifty-two week high of $52.83.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Rollins had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 37.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is 68.75%.

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.