Gabelli Funds LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,623,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 18,900 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Rollins were worth $60,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Rollins by 1.5% during the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,603,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $60,183,000 after acquiring an additional 23,225 shares during the period. Alpine Peaks Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Rollins by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Alpine Peaks Capital LP now owns 219,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,228,000 after buying an additional 48,346 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 19.0% during the first quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 29,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,100,000 after buying an additional 4,683 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC raised its holdings in Rollins by 2.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 406,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,274,000 after acquiring an additional 10,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Rollins by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,119,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,015,000 after acquiring an additional 219,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ROL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, August 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Rollins in a research report on Wednesday, May 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Rollins in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Rollins in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.57.

Rollins Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROL traded up $0.27 on Friday, reaching $35.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,027,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,533,584. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Rollins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.20 and a 52-week high of $45.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.22, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.66.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The business services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Rollins had a net margin of 13.60% and a return on equity of 31.00%. The company had revenue of $820.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $804.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. Rollins’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.86 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 10th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 9th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rollins news, CFO Kenneth D. Krause sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $489,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,375,115.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.