Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is neutral: Twenty-one brokerages give Rockwell Automation a consensus “Hold” rating, with 12 holds and nine buys. The average 12-month price target is $468.67.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: Rockwell reported $3.49 in EPS and $2.31 billion in revenue, beating estimates of $3.38 and $2.24 billion, respectively; revenue rose 7.9% year over year.
• Shareholder returns remain a focus: The company authorized a $1 billion buyback, representing up to 2% of outstanding shares, and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.38 per share, yielding about 1.2% annually.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the twenty-one research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $468.6667.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Argus boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $555.00 to $536.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $445.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK opened at $445.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $463.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Rockwell Automation has a 1 year low of $332.71 and a 1 year high of $497.36. The stock has a market cap of $49.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.77, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.54.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. Analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.73%.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,043,282.87. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total value of $449,025.08. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,102.30. This represents a 15.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 1,649 shares of company stock valued at $722,119 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,206,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,527,249,000 after buying an additional 114,469 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter worth $6,129,376,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,996,130 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,943,844,000 after acquiring an additional 202,705 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,924,501 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,133,397,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,921,840 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,136,801,000 after acquiring an additional 276,021 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

Rockwell Automation is a global industrial automation and digital transformation company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The firm designs, manufactures and supports control systems, industrial control hardware and software, and related services that help manufacturers and industrial operators automate processes, improve productivity and enable data-driven decision making. Rockwell traces its heritage to the Allen-Bradley and Rockwell automation businesses and positions itself as a provider of integrated automation solutions across discrete and process industries.

The company's product portfolio includes programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), variable frequency drives, sensors, safety components and other industrial control hardware, often marketed under the Allen-Bradley brand.

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