Rollins (NYSE:ROL) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday after Argus downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $36.40 and last traded at $36.4440, with a volume of 2164197 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.57.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Rollins from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Rollins from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Rollins from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $70.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $55.00) on shares of Rollins in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Rollins from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rollins has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ROL. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Rollins during the second quarter worth about $65,993,000. S&CO Inc. acquired a new position in Rollins during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,527,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Rollins in the second quarter valued at approximately $568,000. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Rollins during the second quarter worth $449,000. Finally, Family Legacy Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Rollins in the 2nd quarter valued at $301,000. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rollins Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $17.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.74 and its 200 day moving average is $52.46.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Rollins had a net margin of 13.55% and a return on equity of 38.81%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.36%.

About Rollins

Rollins, Inc (NYSE: ROL) is a provider of pest and termite control services operating through a network of subsidiaries and franchises. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company offers a broad range of pest management solutions for both residential and commercial customers, positioning itself as a specialist in protecting property and public health from pests and vectors.

Its service offerings include general pest control, termite inspection and treatment, bed bug remediation, mosquito and vector control, wildlife exclusion, and related specialty services.