Stevens Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Key Points

• Stevens Capital Management LP has acquired a new stake in Rollins, Inc., purchasing 7,502 shares valued at approximately $405,000 in the first quarter of the year.
• Institutional investors currently own 51.79% of Rollins' stock, with several firms, including City Holding Co. and GW&K Investment Management, recently making significant changes to their positions.
• Rollins has been upgraded to a "buy" rating by multiple research firms, with an average price target raised to $61.40, reflecting strong confidence in the company's performance.

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,502 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 66,050 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,061,000 after purchasing an additional 4,100 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Rollins by 168.0% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 40,342 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 25,288 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Rollins by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,868 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Rollins by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 322,428 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,945,000 after acquiring an additional 51,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Rollins in the fourth quarter valued at about $249,000. 51.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Rollins

In related news, Chairman John F. Wilson sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total value of $1,741,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 632,727 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,723,475.08. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.54, for a total transaction of $108,613.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,150,103.12. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,921 shares of company stock valued at $4,120,613. 4.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ROL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $61.00 target price on shares of Rollins and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Rollins from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Rollins from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Rollins in a report on Friday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.40.

Rollins Stock Performance

Shares of ROL stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $57.75. The company had a trading volume of 404,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,905,683. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $56.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $27.99 billion, a PE ratio of 57.16 and a beta of 0.75. Rollins, Inc. has a one year low of $45.34 and a one year high of $58.65.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $999.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.77 million. Rollins had a net margin of 13.70% and a return on equity of 36.96%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Rollins's payout ratio is presently 65.35%.

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.