What happened Shares of Rollins (NYSE: ROL) gained 11.9% in October, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The pest-control stock got a boost after the company released its third-quarter results on Oct. 22 and announced its seventh consecutive annual special dividend. ROL data by YCharts. Rollins announced a quarterly dividend of $0.105 per share, paid to shareholders of record on Nov. 11 on Dec. 10 -- in line with the previous three quarters. The press release also detailed the company's plan to issue a special dividend of $0.05 per share with the same qualification and payment dates. Image source: Getty Images. So what Sales for the third quarter rose 14.1% year over year to reach $556.5 million, and adjusted earnings per diluted share came in at $0.22 -- up 10% year over year. The stock had slumped earlier in the year after earnings slipped in the first quarter and were flat in the second quarter, and investors welcomed the return to earnings growth. Revenue growth in the quarter was partially driven by the company's acquisitions push, but organic revenue growth still came in at 6.4% year over year. The company's special dividend of $0.05 for this year represents a significant decline from the $0.14 per-share special dividend that it paid last year, even after accounting for the 3-to-2 stock split it carried out last December. However, investors may have been pleased with the size of the special dividend, given that Rollins is currently incurring significant expenses related to phasing out its pension program. The company has delivered regular dividend payout growth for the last 17 years. Including this year's special dividend, the stock now has a forward yield of roughly 1.2%. Now what As is normal for the company, Rollins didn't provide forward quarterly guidance with its latest earnings report. The average analyst estimate projects that the company will post earnings per share of $0.17 on sales of $505.3 million. Rollins stock trades at roughly 53 times this year's expected earnings. 10 stocks we like better than RollinsWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Rollins wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of June 1, 2019 Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Rollins. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source