Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 742 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its holdings in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 742 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Rollins were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Rollins in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Rollins in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Rollins by 43.9% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 774 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Rollins by 10,233.3% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Rollins in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ROL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays assumed coverage on Rollins in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.83.

Rollins Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE ROL opened at $49.50 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.77. Rollins, Inc. has a one year low of $39.20 and a one year high of $52.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.56 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rollins news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.49, for a total value of $236,545.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 84,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,274,129.97. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 124,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,195,794.32. The trade was a 10.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,120 shares of company stock valued at $1,209,993 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Rollins 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.