Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is positive overall: Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from 20 analysts, with nine Buy ratings, one Strong Buy, and ten Hold ratings. The average 12-month price target is about $449.16.
• The company beat quarterly expectations: Rockwell reported $3.30 EPS versus estimates of $2.88 and revenue of $2.24 billion, above the $2.16 billion forecast. Revenue rose 11.9% year over year, and the company set FY2026 guidance at $12.50–$13.10 EPS.
• Rockwell also maintained shareholder returns: The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.38 per share, equal to a 1.2% annualized yield. The dividend will be paid on June 10 to shareholders of record on May 18.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $449.1579.

ROK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Rockwell Automation from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Evercore upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $466.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $410.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.4%

ROK opened at $461.76 on Thursday. Rockwell Automation has a 1-year low of $305.44 and a 1-year high of $468.11. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $415.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $403.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $51.38 billion, a PE ratio of 48.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.57.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.The business had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 13.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio is 57.38%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total transaction of $1,133,039.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,232 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,353,591.76. This represents a 15.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 218 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.34, for a total value of $99,482.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,814 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,196,820.76. This trade represents a 4.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 11,931 shares of company stock worth $5,166,199 in the last quarter. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 114,469 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,996,130 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,943,844,000 after buying an additional 202,705 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,924,501 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,133,397,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,921,840 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,136,801,000 after buying an additional 276,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,104,985 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $818,986,000 after buying an additional 24,719 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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