Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Short Interest Update

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,550,000 shares, a decline of 18.0% from the November 15th total of 3,110,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 795,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ROK traded down $1.70 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $295.50. The company had a trading volume of 386,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 891,046. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.36 billion, a PE ratio of 35.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $312.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $280.84 and its 200-day moving average is $270.14.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm’s revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ROK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $301.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at $23,327,482.45. The trade was a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,541 shares of company stock worth $10,586,674 in the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $318,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% during 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 period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,135,000 after acquiring an additional 700,745 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,802,000 after purchasing an additional 390,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 484.5% in the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 412,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,779,000 after purchasing an additional 341,814 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

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.