Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Raised to “Hold” at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

ROK has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $286.15 on Tuesday. Rockwell Automation has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $312.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company’s fifty day moving average is $268.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.83.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 9.46 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,915,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,326,000 after acquiring an additional 933,025 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,135,000 after purchasing an additional 700,745 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,092,891,000 after buying an additional 438,356 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services.