Axiom Investors LLC DE Takes $154,000 Position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Axiom Investors LLC DE acquired a new position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $154,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Rollins by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,485,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $893,283,000 after purchasing an additional 384,126 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in Rollins by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 12,922,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $484,974,000 after purchasing an additional 189,977 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC lifted its position in Rollins by 3.4% during the second quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 3,513,798 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $150,496,000 after purchasing an additional 113,949 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Rollins by 78.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,221,759 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,723,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,569 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Rollins by 0.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,133,825 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,840,000 after buying an additional 28,318 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ROL shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Rollins in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. TheStreet lowered shares of Rollins from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, August 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Rollins from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.20.

Rollins Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROL opened at $39.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $19.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.70. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.19 and a fifty-two week high of $45.04.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The business services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $840.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.35 million. Rollins had a return on equity of 33.81% and a net margin of 13.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 10th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 9th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. This is a positive change from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul Russell Hardin acquired 5,560 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $36.00 per share, with a total value of $200,160.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $285,372. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Paul Russell Hardin acquired 5,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $36.00 per share, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,372. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jerry Jr. Gahlhoff sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $266,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 225,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,553,458. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Rollins 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.