Rollins (NYSE:ROL) Hits New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $36.29 and last traded at $36.38, with a volume of 327923 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus downgraded shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $43.00 target price (down from $50.00) on shares of Rollins in a report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Rollins from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $52.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target (down from $70.00) on shares of Rollins in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Rollins from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.71.

Rollins Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Rollins had a return on equity of 38.81% and a net margin of 13.55%.The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.1825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rollins

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Rollins by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,282,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,297,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,241 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Rollins in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,204,334,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Rollins by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,850,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $771,279,000 after buying an additional 575,946 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Rollins by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,163,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $608,256,000 after buying an additional 626,866 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Rollins by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,089,189 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $365,473,000 after buying an additional 461,869 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

About Rollins

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.