Anchor Investment Management LLC Increases Position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 724.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,797 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,579 shares during the quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Rollins were worth $91,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROL. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 14.0% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 9,397,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $465,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,722 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Rollins in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,225,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Rollins during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,980,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rollins by 440.9% during the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 261,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,737,000 after acquiring an additional 212,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Rollins by 34.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 721,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,491,000 after acquiring an additional 186,452 shares during the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In other Rollins news, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $735,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 124,214 shares in the company, valued at $6,195,794.32. This trade represents a 10.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.49, for a total transaction of $236,545.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 84,653 shares in the company, valued at $4,274,129.97. This trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on ROL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Rollins from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.67.

Rollins Stock Performance

Shares of ROL stock opened at $48.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Rollins, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.41 and a twelve month high of $52.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $49.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.19. The stock has a market cap of $23.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.80 and a beta of 0.72.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $916.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $911.15 million. Rollins had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.75%.

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.