Rollins (NYSE:ROL) Research Coverage Started at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Rollins (NYSE:ROL) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $70.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

ROL has been the topic of several other research reports. Zacks Research lowered Rollins from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $63.00 price objective on Rollins and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Rollins in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $55.00 target price on shares of Rollins and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Rollins from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.42.

Rollins Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE ROL opened at $58.21 on Wednesday. Rollins has a twelve month low of $45.34 and a twelve month high of $60.35. The stock has a market cap of $28.21 billion, a PE ratio of 54.40 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Rollins had a return on equity of 38.66% and a net margin of 14.02%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Rollins will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. Rollins’s payout ratio is currently 68.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rollins

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Rollins by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,720,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,156,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,306 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Rollins by 2.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,102,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $682,801,000 after buying an additional 274,105 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Rollins by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 10,243,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $553,464,000 after acquiring an additional 38,503 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Rollins by 4.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,379,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $527,446,000 after purchasing an additional 432,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Rollins by 41.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,657,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% 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.