Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $469.3333.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $501.00 target price for the company. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $461.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $461.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $421.76. Rockwell Automation has a 52-week low of $305.44 and a 52-week high of $497.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total value of $449,025.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,615 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,102.30. The trade was a 15.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.73, for a total transaction of $246,251.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,237,525.72. This represents a 16.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 9,361 shares of company stock valued at $4,189,886 in the last ninety days. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ROK. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 97.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, TD Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

Rockwell Automation is a global industrial automation and digital transformation company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The firm designs, manufactures and supports control systems, industrial control hardware and software, and related services that help manufacturers and industrial operators automate processes, improve productivity and enable data-driven decision making. Rockwell traces its heritage to the Allen-Bradley and Rockwell automation businesses and positions itself as a provider of integrated automation solutions across discrete and process industries.

The company’s product portfolio includes programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), variable frequency drives, sensors, safety components and other industrial control hardware, often marketed under the Allen-Bradley brand.