Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Increases Stock Position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Rollins were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank grew its stake in Rollins by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of Rollins by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 38,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,767,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 37,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its position in Rollins by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 10,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Rollins by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. 51.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.00.

Rollins Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:ROL opened at $54.06 on Tuesday. Rollins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.72 and a 1 year high of $54.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.31 and a beta of 0.78.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Rollins had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 37.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total value of $171,194.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,602 shares in the company, valued at $509,866.20. The trade was a 25.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 13,193 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $675,217.74. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 76,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,916,600.68. This trade represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,338 shares of company stock worth $945,882 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.47% of the company’s stock.

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.