Amundi Sells 653,994 Shares of Rollins, Inc. $ROL

Amundi lowered its position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 721,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 653,994 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.15% of Rollins worth $40,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Rollins during the 2nd quarter valued at $218,593,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 196.2% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,542,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $199,937,000 after acquiring an additional 2,346,592 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of Rollins by 1,923.1% in the second quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,878,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785,300 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Rollins by 41.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,657,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,649,676 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Rollins during the first quarter worth about $59,073,000. 51.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ROL. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Rollins and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $55.00 price objective on Rollins and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Rollins in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Rollins in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In related news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 2,395 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.77, for a total transaction of $138,359.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 34,732 shares in the company, valued at $2,006,467.64. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.47% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Stock Down 4.2%

NYSE:ROL opened at $57.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Rollins, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.34 and a 1-year high of $61.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.37 and a 200 day moving average of $57.41. The firm has a market cap of $28.10 billion, a PE ratio of 54.20 and a beta of 0.79.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.03. Rollins had a net margin of 14.02% and a return on equity of 37.60%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.22%.

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.