Rollins (NYSE:ROL) Cut to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Rollins (NYSE:ROL) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $56.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $68.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on ROL. Jefferies Financial Group set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Rollins and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Rollins from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Rollins in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays raised Rollins from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.00.

Rollins Price Performance

ROL stock opened at $58.14 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.05. Rollins has a 1 year low of $49.73 and a 1 year high of $66.14. The stock has a market cap of $28.18 billion, a PE ratio of 53.34 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $912.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.08 million. Rollins had a return on equity of 38.16% and a net margin of 14.00%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Rollins will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.1825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 2,396 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.06, for a total value of $143,903.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 29,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,755,613.86. This represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman John F. Wilson sold 7,538 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total transaction of $476,853.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 600,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,959,099.74. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,150 shares of company stock valued at $3,711,814. 4.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rollins

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ROL. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Rollins by 528.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 421 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Rollins in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Rollins during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Rollins in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Rollins in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Rollins

Here are the key news stories impacting Rollins this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Underlying growth — Revenue rose ~9.7% year?over?year and key profit-line metrics (gross, operating, net income) were up on a year ago, showing continued top?line expansion for Rollins’ pest?control franchise. Quiver Quantitative: Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: Bull case remains from some analysts — A few firms (e.g., William Blair) reiterated a buy-on-weakness stance, framing the miss as a potential long?term entry into a durable compounder. TipRanks: Buy on Weakness
• Neutral Sentiment: Company disclosures — Rollins posted its earnings release, slide deck and earnings?call materials for the quarter; read the filings/slide deck for management’s commentary and guidance details. Rollins Q4 press release / slide deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage overview — Several analyst notes and roundups have appeared after the print, providing differing views and a wide range of price targets (median targets have been higher historically). Useful to read multiple notes to see conviction and catalyst timing. Benzinga: Analyst outlook roundup
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings and revenue misses — Rollins reported EPS below consensus ($0.25 vs. ~$0.27) and revenue short of estimates (~$912.9M vs. ~$925–936M consensus), which triggered the initial selloff and hurt near?term sentiment. Zacks: Q4 miss
• Negative Sentiment: Demand softness, weather impact — Management and reporters cited weaker demand and erratic weather as contributors to the miss, a near?term risk for seasonal revenue recovery. Reuters: Weaker demand
• Negative Sentiment: Downgrade and lower price target — Wells Fargo cut ROL from Overweight to Equal Weight and reduced its target to $56 (below the recent share price), adding explicit downside to the near?term valuation case. Benzinga: Wells Fargo downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider and portfolio moves highlighted — Third?party data flagged significant insider sales and shifting institutional positions in recent quarters, which can weigh on sentiment when combined with an earnings miss. Quiver Quantitative: Insider & holdings data

Rollins Company Profile

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.