Railway Pension Investments Ltd Lowers Holdings in Rollins, Inc. $ROL

Railway Pension Investments Ltd decreased its holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 754,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 56,700 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd owned 0.16% of Rollins worth $42,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Rollins in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $218,593,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Rollins by 196.2% during 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 buying an additional 2,346,592 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,785,300 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Rollins in the first quarter worth $59,073,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Rollins during the first quarter worth $54,685,000. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Price Performance

NYSE:ROL opened at $61.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.47 and a beta of 0.72. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.22. Rollins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.34 and a 1 year high of $61.84.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Rollins had a return on equity of 38.66% and a net margin of 14.02%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This is a positive change from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. Rollins’s payout ratio is currently 68.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROL has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Rollins from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $55.00 price target on Rollins and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $66.00 price objective on Rollins and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Rollins in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.42.

Insider Activity

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

Rollins Company 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.