United Asset Strategies Inc. Acquires New Position in Rollins, Inc. $ROL

United Asset Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 15,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $896,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROL. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Rollins by 52.4% during the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 8,216 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Rollins by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 301,163 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,690,000 after purchasing an additional 89,515 shares in the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Rollins by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 49,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 8,298 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its holdings in Rollins by 57.1% during the 3rd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 179,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,551,000 after purchasing an additional 65,300 shares during the period. Finally, Index Fund Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Rollins in the 3rd quarter valued at about $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Rollins

In other news, Chairman John F. Wilson sold 1,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.40, for a total value of $90,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 607,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,090,667.80. This represents a 0.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 2,396 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total transaction of $143,113.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,627 shares in the company, valued at $1,889,080.71. The trade was a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,311 shares of company stock valued at $371,760. Insiders own 4.47% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE ROL opened at $60.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.85. The company has a market capitalization of $29.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.26 and a beta of 0.79. Rollins, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.77 and a 12 month high of $61.84.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Rollins had a net margin of 14.02% and a return on equity of 37.60%. Rollins’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.1825 dividend. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Rollins’s payout ratio is currently 68.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ROL shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $66.00 price objective on Rollins and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Rollins in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Rollins in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Rollins and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $63.00 target price on Rollins and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.92.

Rollins 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.