Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Purchases 241,753 Shares of Rollins, Inc. $ROL

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital more than doubled its Rollins position in the first quarter, purchasing 241,753 additional shares for a total of 466,732 shares valued at approximately $24.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 51.79% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with Rollins receiving a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $48.71. Recent price targets ranged from $35 to $67, including downgrades from Bank of America and RBC.
• Rollins’ latest quarterly results slightly missed expectations, reporting $0.32 in EPS versus a $0.34 consensus and $1.08 billion in revenue, though revenue rose 7.9% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1825, representing a 1.9% annualized yield.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL - Free Report) by 107.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 466,732 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 241,753 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.10% of Rollins worth $24,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Rollins by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,282,523 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,297,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,241 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Rollins by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,850,361 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $771,279,000 after purchasing an additional 575,946 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Rollins by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,163,847 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $608,256,000 after buying an additional 626,866 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Rollins by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,089,189 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $365,473,000 after buying an additional 461,869 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Rollins during the fourth quarter valued at about $244,669,000. 51.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on ROL shares. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down from $55.00) on shares of Rollins in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $45.00 target price on Rollins and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Rollins from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays set a $45.00 price objective on Rollins and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.71.

Rollins Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of ROL opened at $38.83 on Thursday. Rollins, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.59 and a 1-year 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $45.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.75.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Rollins had a return on equity of 38.81% and a net margin of 13.55%.Rollins's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Rollins's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.36%.

About Rollins

Rollins, Inc NYSE: ROL is a provider of pest and termite control services operating through a network of subsidiaries and franchises. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company offers a broad range of pest management solutions for both residential and commercial customers, positioning itself as a specialist in protecting property and public health from pests and vectors.

Its service offerings include general pest control, termite inspection and treatment, bed bug remediation, mosquito and vector control, wildlife exclusion, and related specialty services.

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