This week’s Stock of the Week is strongly focused on customer service and on eliminating irritations from customers’ lives.

Bug Beater

Rollins Inc. (ROL), which provides pest-control services for residential and commercial customers, is one of the best-managed, most shareholder-friendly of all public companies. This is a customer service business, and Rollins focuses strongly on cultivating and keeping customers.

Still a family firm in some ways, Rollins is run by CEO Randall Rollins, with founder and vice chairman Gary Rollins still on the board of directors and actively involved at age 72. The Rollins family owns about half of all outstanding shares and therefore has a strong incentive to do well for other shareholders. Rollins has very good return on investment, buys back shares regularly and carefully protects its dividend, which is currently $0.46/share/yr., recently yielding 1.1%.

Revenue of $1.6 billion last year should grow to $1.75 billion this year and $1.9 billion in 2018.

Fiscal year: December. Earnings per share: 2018 est./$1.10…2017 est./$0.92…2016/$0.76.

Robert T. Lutts is president of Cabot Wealth Management, Salem, Massachusetts, which manages $600 million, and author of The Great Game of Business: Investing to Win. ECabot.com

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