AlphaCentric Advisors LLC Makes New $604,000 Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 2,250 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $604,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.2% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the first quarter valued at about $148,000. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 66,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $19,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,717 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ROK. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $256.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.93.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK opened at $264.65 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $265.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.44. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $242.81 and a 1 year high of $312.76. The company has a market capitalization of $30.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.09% and a net margin of 11.56%. Rockwell Automation’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.01 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.82%.

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.