Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Has $1.77 Million Stock Position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 38,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Rollins were worth $1,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Rollins by 54.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 173,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,725,000 after purchasing an additional 61,475 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Rollins in the third quarter worth about $1,428,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Rollins in the third quarter worth about $5,102,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Rollins by 13.7% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 661,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,484,000 after purchasing an additional 79,546 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Rollins by 22.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,280,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,323,000 after purchasing an additional 420,399 shares during the period. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on ROL shares. StockNews.com lowered Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Rollins Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ROL opened at $51.81 on Tuesday. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.72 and a fifty-two week high of $53.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.09 billion, a PE ratio of 53.96 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.42.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Rollins had a return on equity of 37.94% and a net margin of 13.76%. Sell-side analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Rollins news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total value of $99,469.38. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,131,937.94. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total value of $171,194.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,602 shares in the company, valued at $509,866.20. The trade was a 25.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,338 shares of company stock worth $945,882 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

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.