Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock Rating Upgraded by Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $350.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $275.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.16.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of ROK stock opened at $281.02 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $287.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.05. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $31.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.94, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation has a fifty-two week low of $242.81 and a fifty-two week high of $307.71.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.64 EPS. Research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total transaction of $83,967.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $961,695.36. The trade was a 8.03 % 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. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549 in the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at $26,000. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 455.6% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the second quarter valued at $36,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.