Suncoast Equity Management Buys 34,575 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Suncoast Equity Management boosted its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL - Free Report) by 85.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,200 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 34,575 shares during the quarter. Rollins makes up approximately 0.5% of Suncoast Equity Management's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Suncoast Equity Management's holdings in Rollins were worth $4,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Rollins in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Rollins in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Rollins in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Rollins in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rollins by 73.0% in the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 806 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company's stock.

Rollins Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROL opened at $56.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.02 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $56.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.34 and a fifty-two week high of $58.65.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. The business had revenue of $822.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $817.09 million. Rollins had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 37.31%. Rollins's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Rollins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ROL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $61.00 target price on shares of Rollins and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Rollins from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Rollins from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Rollins from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rollins news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.81, for a total transaction of $101,448.01. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,093,388.40. This trade represents a 4.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman John F. Wilson sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.77, for a total transaction of $2,270,800.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 662,727 shares in the company, valued at $37,623,011.79. This trade represents a 5.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 43,842 shares of company stock worth $2,480,861. Company insiders own 4.47% of the company's stock.

Rollins Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.