Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) Short Interest Update

Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,280,000 shares, a decline of 23.4% from the March 31st total of 9,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ROL. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Rollins from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Rollins in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Rollins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Rollins Stock Performance

Rollins stock traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.90. The company had a trading volume of 1,688,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,861,357. Rollins has a 52 week low of $32.19 and a 52 week high of $47.45. The firm has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.45, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.54 and a 200-day moving average of $42.19.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20. Rollins had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 37.73%. The company had revenue of $748.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $739.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Rollins will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Rollins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kenneth D. Krause sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total transaction of $230,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,078 shares in the company, valued at $4,575,422.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Kenneth D. Krause sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total transaction of $230,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,078 shares in the company, valued at $4,575,422.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 5,147 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $236,762.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,627,802. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,824 shares of company stock worth $994,558 in the last ninety days. 4.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rollins

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROL. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Rollins by 63.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in Rollins by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 12,064 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,740 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Rollins by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 49,073 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,832,000 after acquiring an additional 21,656 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Rollins by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 145,639 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,437,000 after acquiring an additional 23,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in Rollins by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 148,896 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,558,000 after acquiring an additional 23,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company's stock.

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.

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