Sanford C. Bernstein Upgrades Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) to Hold

Key Points

• Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Rockwell Automation to Hold, adding to a mixed analyst backdrop that still leaves the stock with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $451.75.
• Rockwell Automation’s latest earnings beat expectations, with $3.30 EPS versus the $2.88 estimate and $2.24 billion in revenue versus the $2.16 billion forecast. Revenue also rose 11.9% year over year.
• The company authorized a $1.0 billion stock repurchase program, which covers up to 2% of shares and suggests management sees value in the stock despite recent insider selling and a 4.4% drop in the shares mentioned in the report.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Rockwell Automation from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $451.75.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 4.4%

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $440.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Rockwell Automation has a 1-year low of $305.44 and a 1-year high of $468.11. The company has a market cap of $48.99 billion, a PE ratio of 45.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.57. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $424.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $406.00.

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. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation will post 13.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 550 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.73, for a total value of $246,251.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,764 shares in the company, valued at $1,237,525.72. The trade was a 16.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,308 shares of company stock worth $5,339,812. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at $281,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 75.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 142.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,305 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,887,000 after acquiring an additional 4,295 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 233.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter worth about $868,000. Institutional investors 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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