Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Rating Increased to Hold at DA Davidson

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was upgraded by stock analysts at DA Davidson to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of 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 issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $454.05.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:ROK opened at $466.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $51.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.57. Rockwell Automation has a 52 week low of $305.44 and a 52 week high of $474.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $432.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $408.10.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value of $173,612.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,043,282.87. This trade represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents 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 sold a total of 12,308 shares of company stock worth $5,339,812 in the last ninety days. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the first quarter worth $31,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.