Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $287.13.

ROK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,000. The trade was a 21.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James P. Keane sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.00, for a total transaction of $592,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,409,328. This trade represents a 14.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,746 shares of company stock worth $9,152,594 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 7.1% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 336.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,956,000 after acquiring an additional 21,051 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 30.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,122 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 142.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Common Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth $4,704,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.1 %

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $295.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $33.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation has a 1 year low of $242.81 and a 1 year high of $312.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $274.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.03.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

Rockwell Automation, Inc provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services.