Royal Bank of Canada Grows Stock Position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL - Free Report) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 858,641 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 109,205 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.18% of Rollins worth $39,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Rollins by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 721,467 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $36,491,000 after buying an additional 186,452 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rollins during the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rollins by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,748 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 1,524 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rollins by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 7,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in Rollins by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,076 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total value of $171,194.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $509,866.20. This represents a 25.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total transaction of $99,469.38. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,131,937.94. The trade was a 4.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,987 shares of company stock valued at $480,725 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.47% of the company's stock.

Rollins Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ROL traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $56.86. 1,332,831 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,743,850. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Rollins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.00 and a 1 year high of $57.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.23 and a beta of 0.79. The business's 50-day moving average price is $54.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.31.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Rollins had a return on equity of 37.94% and a net margin of 13.76%. The firm had revenue of $822.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $817.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Rollins's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ROL. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $61.00 price target on Rollins and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Rollins from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Rollins from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.57.

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.