Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Reduces Stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lowered its position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,746,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 26,239 shares during the period. Rollins makes up 0.8% of Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Rollins were worth $80,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ROL. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Rollins in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rollins during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Rollins in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Rollins by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Rollins during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rollins Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:ROL opened at $55.73 on Tuesday. Rollins, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.72 and a 12 month high of $57.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.84. The stock has a market cap of $27.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.05 and a beta of 0.80.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Rollins had a return on equity of 37.94% and a net margin of 13.76%. Equities analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In related news, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total transaction of $171,194.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,602 shares in the company, valued at $509,866.20. This represents a 25.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 13,193 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $675,217.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,526 shares in the company, valued at $3,916,600.68. This represents a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,259 shares of company stock valued at $1,047,330. Corporate insiders own 4.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ROL shares. StockNews.com lowered Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Rollins from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.83.

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.