Eastern Bank Decreases Stake in Rollins, Inc. $ROL

Eastern Bank reduced its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 929 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Rollins were worth $2,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROL. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Rollins by 196.2% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,542,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $199,937,000 after buying an additional 2,346,592 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of Rollins during the 1st quarter worth $59,073,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rollins during the 1st quarter worth $54,685,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rollins by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,736,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,876,815,000 after buying an additional 999,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Rollins by 372.7% during the 1st quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,267,167 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $68,465,000 after buying an additional 999,112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In other 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 transaction of $1,741,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 632,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,723,475.08. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Rollins Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE ROL opened at $56.99 on Friday. Rollins, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.34 and a 12 month high of $59.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.29 and a 200-day moving average of $56.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $27.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.43 and a beta of 0.69.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.01. Rollins had a net margin of 13.70% and a return on equity of 36.96%. The company had revenue of $999.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ROL shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Rollins from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Rollins in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Rollins from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Rollins from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (up previously from $63.00) on shares of Rollins in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.18.

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.