Short Interest in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) Expands By 30.7%

Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 11,931,852 shares, an increase of 30.7% from the March 15th total of 9,126,691 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,065,406 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Rollins Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Rollins stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $55.09. The stock had a trading volume of 2,420,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,997,281. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $57.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.76. Rollins has a 12-month low of $51.77 and a 12-month high of $66.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.84.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). Rollins had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 38.16%. The firm had revenue of $912.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $925.08 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rollins will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is 66.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jerry Jr. Gahlhoff sold 4,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total transaction of $285,302.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 328,386 shares in the company, valued at $20,773,698.36. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Gary W. Rollins sold 19,094 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 transaction of $1,207,886.44. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 5,322,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,699,388.94. This trade represents a 0.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 67,039 shares of company stock worth $4,177,480. Company insiders own 5.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rollins

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,282,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,297,717,000 after buying an additional 1,562,241 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,850,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $771,279,000 after buying an additional 575,946 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Rollins by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,163,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $608,256,000 after purchasing an additional 626,866 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Rollins by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,089,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $365,473,000 after purchasing an additional 461,869 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Rollins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $244,669,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ROL shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Rollins in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Rollins and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Rollins and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Rollins and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday, December 29th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.86.

Rollins Company 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.