GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 1,148 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Rollins were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ROL. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its stake in Rollins by 14.0% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 9,397,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $465,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,722 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in Rollins in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,225,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Rollins in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,980,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Rollins by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,280,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $115,323,000 after buying an additional 420,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 440.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 261,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,737,000 after acquiring an additional 212,789 shares during the period. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ROL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Rollins from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Rollins from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 27th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rollins currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.40.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In related news, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $735,730.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 124,214 shares in the company, valued at $6,195,794.32. This represents a 10.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Rollins Price Performance

Rollins stock opened at $45.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $48.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.11. Rollins, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.41 and a 12 month high of $52.16. The company has a market capitalization of $22.10 billion, a PE ratio of 47.53 and a beta of 0.75. 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 (NYSE:ROL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). Rollins had a return on equity of 38.67% and a net margin of 14.18%. The business had revenue of $916.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $911.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.165 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 1.45%. Rollins’s payout ratio is currently 68.75%.

Rollins Company 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.