Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. 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. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $284.80.

A number of brokerages have commented on ROK. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Taylor Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $597,000. Clarity Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $362,000. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at about $682,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kampmann Melissa S. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kampmann Melissa S. now owns 12,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,790,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $274.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $31.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.82, a PEG ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $264.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $267.71. Rockwell Automation has a fifty-two week low of $242.81 and a fifty-two week high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.09% and a net margin of 11.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Rockwell Automation will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

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.