Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 695,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,252 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of Rollins worth $35,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Rollins by 185.0% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 384,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,781,000 after purchasing an additional 249,860 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 4,697.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 324,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,997,000 after buying an additional 317,353 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Rollins during the second quarter valued at approximately $13,580,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Rollins by 501.9% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 23,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after buying an additional 19,596 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its holdings in Rollins by 23.7% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 142,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,593,000 after buying an additional 27,301 shares during the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rollins Trading Down 0.4 %

Rollins stock opened at $49.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.67. Rollins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.03 and a 1 year high of $52.16. The stock has a market cap of $24.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.99 and a beta of 0.70.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $916.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $911.15 million. Rollins had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. This is a positive change from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ROL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rollins currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.83.

Insider Transactions at Rollins

In other news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of Rollins 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 owns 84,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,274,129.97. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

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.