Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in Rollins, Inc. $ROL

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group raised its stake in Rollins by 607.7% in Q3 to 79,944 shares, worth about $4.70 million at the end of the period.
• Insider selling was notable: Chairman Gary W. Rollins sold 10,355 shares and CEO Jerry Jr. Gahlhoff sold 1,307 shares on Jan 28, and insiders have sold 73,351 shares (~$4.55M) over the past 90 days.
• Rollins missed Q4 estimates (EPS $0.25 vs. $0.27 and revenue $912.9M vs. $925.1M) despite 9.7% revenue growth year-over-year; the stock trades at a P/E of 52.8, yields 1.3% annually, and carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $66.08.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL - Free Report) by 607.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,944 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 68,647 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Rollins were worth $4,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Rollins in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in Rollins by 58.4% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 730 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in Rollins in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Rollins in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Rollins in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Gary W. Rollins sold 10,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.83, for a total transaction of $650,604.65. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 5,312,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $333,760,122.62. This represents a 0.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jerry Jr. Gahlhoff sold 1,307 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.83, for a total value of $82,118.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 327,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,550,373.57. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,351 shares of company stock valued at $4,554,785. 4.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rollins Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROL opened at $57.60 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $61.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.84, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.80. Rollins, Inc. has a one year low of $49.73 and a one year high of $66.14.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Rollins had a return on equity of 38.16% and a net margin of 14.00%.The company had revenue of $912.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.1825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Rollins's payout ratio is 66.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Rollins from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $60.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price objective on Rollins in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Rollins in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. UBS Group set a $65.00 target price on Rollins in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $56.00 price target on Rollins and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.08.

Rollins Company Profile

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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