Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $468.1905.

ROK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted 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.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $429.60 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $461.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.71 billion, a PE ratio of 40.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation has a 52-week low of $332.71 and a 52-week high of $497.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.39% and a return on equity of 39.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 13.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

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

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total value of $256,237.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,429 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,314.70. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. The trade was a 7.83% 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 sold 1,185 shares of company stock valued at $529,331 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.