Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Rating Increased to Hold at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on ROK. Evercore upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research 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. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $451.75.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 4.4%

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $440.24 on Tuesday. Rockwell Automation has a one year low of $305.44 and a one year high of $468.11. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $424.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $406.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.99 billion, a PE ratio of 45.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.57.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 13.01 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In related news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.97, for a total transaction of $1,818,727.28. Following the sale, the vice president owned 134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,563.98. This represents a 96.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total value of $1,133,039.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,353,591.76. The trade was a 15.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 12,308 shares of company stock worth $5,339,812 in the last three months. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ROK. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 61,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,613,000 after purchasing an additional 4,086 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,556,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 744,814 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,073,000 after purchasing an additional 127,733 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 911.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 91,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,720,000 after purchasing an additional 82,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maridea Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 580.0% during the 4th quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 4,710 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

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.