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

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-one brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $468.1905.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ROK shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho set a $445.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value of $173,612.27. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,043,282.87. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total value of $256,237.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,314.70. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 1,185 shares of company stock worth $529,331 over the last ninety days. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,129,376,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth $615,596,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 5,925.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 906,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $352,572,000 after acquiring an additional 891,153 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter worth about $394,905,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter worth about $300,589,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $437.50 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $461.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $427.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation has a 12 month low of $332.71 and a 12 month high of $497.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.Rockwell Automation’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 13.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.73%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 9th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Rockwell Automation

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.