Colonial River Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 10,814 Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Colonial River Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,814 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $547,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ROL. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Rollins by 4.5% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,196 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Rollins during the 1st quarter valued at $252,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Rollins during the 1st quarter valued at $201,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Rollins by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 7,468 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Rollins by 328.2% during the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 38,268 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,771,000 after acquiring an additional 29,331 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company's stock.

Rollins Price Performance

Shares of Rollins stock traded up $1.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,466,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,549. The firm has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.27 and a beta of 0.70. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.61 and a 12 month high of $51.96. The business's 50-day moving average is $49.52 and its 200 day moving average is $48.48.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $916.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $911.15 million. Rollins had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The firm's revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This is a boost from Rollins's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Rollins's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In other Rollins news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.74, for a total transaction of $237,716.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,338 shares in the company, valued at $4,533,010.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Rollins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $49.83.

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.