Bank of America Begins Coverage on Rollins (NYSE:ROL)

Analysts at Bank of America began coverage on shares of Rollins (NYSE:ROL) in a report released on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 15.24% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on ROL. Jefferies Financial Group set a $66.00 target price on shares of Rollins and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Barclays raised Rollins from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Rollins in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rollins currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.08.

Rollins Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE ROL opened at $58.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.07. The company has a market cap of $27.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.34 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Rollins has a 12-month low of $49.73 and a 12-month high of $66.14.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $0.25 EPS 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 company had revenue of $912.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.08 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Rollins will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In related news, Chairman Gary W. Rollins sold 19,094 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 $1,207,886.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 5,322,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $336,699,388.94. This represents a 0.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman John F. Wilson sold 7,538 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total transaction of $476,853.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 600,049 shares in the company, valued at $37,959,099.74. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 59,150 shares of company stock valued at $3,711,814 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rollins

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in Rollins by 528.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 421 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Rollins during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Rollins during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Rollins in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Rollins in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

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.