Rollins (NYSE:ROL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rollins (NYSE:ROL – Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Separately, Redburn Partners assumed coverage on shares of Rollins in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. They issued a buy rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $44.25.

Rollins Stock Down 1.2 %

ROL opened at $36.07 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.93 and a 200 day moving average of $37.16. The company has a market cap of $17.76 billion, a PE ratio of 48.74 and a beta of 0.65. Rollins has a 12 month low of $31.43 and a 12 month high of $43.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 15th. The business services provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $661.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.44 million. Rollins had a net margin of 13.53% and a return on equity of 30.92%. Rollins’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Rollins will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 10th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. Rollins’s payout ratio is 70.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In other Rollins news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 2,129 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.57, for a total value of $77,857.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,545,827.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 53.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rollins

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ROL. Markel Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,248,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,752,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Rollins by 4.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 228,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,999,000 after buying an additional 10,319 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Rollins by 19.1% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 17,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $597,000 after acquiring an additional 2,730 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Rollins by 4.7% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 49,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Rollins by 24.3% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 46,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after buying an additional 9,129 shares in the last quarter. 38.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Rollins

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Rollins, Inc engages in the provision of pest and termite control services through its wholly-owned subsidiaries to both residential and commercial customers in the United States, Canada, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia, the Mediterranean, Europe, Africa, Mexico, and Australia.