Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $27.24 Million Holdings in Rollins, Inc. $ROL

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 453,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 37,181 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.09% of Rollins worth $27,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ROL. Thrive Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rollins by 2.7% during the third quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Rollins by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 18,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in Rollins by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Rollins by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC increased its position in Rollins by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Rollins in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays raised Rollins from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $56.00 price objective on Rollins and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Rollins in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rollins presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.08.

Key Stories Impacting Rollins

Here are the key news stories impacting Rollins this week:

• Positive Sentiment: March short interest fell ~13% (to ~9.13M shares), reducing downward pressure from shorts and lowering the risk of additional short-covering volatility. This lower short interest is a near-term tailwind for the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: High media volume around the name “Rollins” today is dominated by unrelated items (WWE wrestler Seth Rollins headlines, arrests, and fan coverage). That generates search/attention noise but does not reflect Rollins, Inc.’s business fundamentals. Seth Rollins Arrested By Boston Police Department After Paul Heyman Reveals Restraining Order On WWE Raw
• Negative Sentiment: Recent quarterly results showed an EPS miss (reported $0.25 vs. $0.27 expected) and revenue slightly below consensus; those results are a near-term headwind for sentiment and analyst expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and valuation pressures: the stock is trading below both its 50- and 200-day moving averages (~$59 levels) and carries a high P/E (~49x), which can weigh on momentum and investor appetite absent stronger growth beats.

Rollins Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ROL opened at $53.43 on Thursday. Rollins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.73 and a 1 year high of $66.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $59.93 and its 200-day moving average is $59.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.75 billion, a PE ratio of 49.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.80.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Rollins had a return on equity of 38.16% and a net margin of 14.00%.The business had revenue of $912.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.08 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.1825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Rollins’s payout ratio is presently 66.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman John F. Wilson sold 7,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total value of $476,853.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 600,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,959,099.74. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jerry Jr. Gahlhoff sold 4,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total value of $285,302.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 328,386 shares in the company, valued at $20,773,698.36. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 69,435 shares of company stock worth $4,321,384 over the last 90 days. 4.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Rollins Profile

Rollins, Inc (NYSE: ROL) is a provider of pest and termite control services operating through a network of subsidiaries and franchises. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company offers a broad range of pest management solutions for both residential and commercial customers, positioning itself as a specialist in protecting property and public health from pests and vectors.

Its service offerings include general pest control, termite inspection and treatment, bed bug remediation, mosquito and vector control, wildlife exclusion, and related specialty services.