Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) Stock Rated "Hold" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Wall Street analysts rate Rollins “Hold” overall: Among 19 brokerages, 10 recommend holding the stock, while four rate it a sell, four a buy, and one a strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $45.94.
• Recent analysts have generally lowered their targets, including Morgan Stanley to $45, UBS to $43, and Wells Fargo to $27; Zacks Research downgraded the stock to “strong sell.” Rollins shares opened at $30.30, near their 12-month low of $29.28.
• Rollins reported quarterly EPS of $0.32, below the $0.34 consensus, while revenue rose 7.9% year over year to $1.08 billion. The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.1825 per share, equivalent to a 2.4% yield.

Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.94.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ROL. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Rollins from $60.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Rollins from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $45.00 target price on shares of Rollins and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $43.00 target price (down from $50.00) on shares of Rollins in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $27.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Rollins in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rollins

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ROL. Amundi raised its position in shares of Rollins by 71.4% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,851,904 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $77,300,000 after buying an additional 771,578 shares in the last quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. increased its stake in Rollins by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 495,655 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $20,689,000 after acquiring an additional 39,925 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Rollins by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 216,278 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,551,000 after acquiring an additional 31,173 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Rollins in the second quarter valued at approximately $61,792,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Rollins during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,619,000. 51.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rollins Price Performance

Rollins stock opened at $30.30 on Wednesday. Rollins has a 12 month low of $29.28 and a 12 month high of $66.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $34.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.34. The company has a market cap of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.73.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) last released its 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). Rollins had a return on equity of 38.81% and a net margin of 13.55%.The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rollins will post 1.16 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.1825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Rollins's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.36%.

About Rollins

Rollins, Inc is a global provider of pest and wildlife control services. The company serves residential and commercial customers with solutions for common pests, including insects, rodents, termites, bedbugs and mosquitoes. Its services also include wildlife management, sanitation and related specialty treatments.

Rollins operates through a portfolio of well-known brands, including Orkin, Terminix, HomeTeam Pest Defense and Critter Control. These brands provide recurring pest prevention, inspections, extermination, termite control and other property protection services to homeowners, businesses and institutions.

Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Rollins has expanded its operations across the United States and into international markets.

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