Rockwell Automation (ROK) Competitors

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) and AMETEK (NYSE:AME) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ROK or AME?

75.8% of Rockwell Automation shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of AMETEK shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Rockwell Automation shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of AMETEK shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, ROK or AME?

Rockwell Automation has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AMETEK has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor ROK or AME?

In the previous week, Rockwell Automation had 21 more articles in the media than AMETEK. MarketBeat recorded 57 mentions for Rockwell Automation and 36 mentions for AMETEK. AMETEK's average media sentiment score of 1.41 beat Rockwell Automation's score of 0.76 indicating that AMETEK is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Rockwell Automation	32 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	13 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	4 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AMETEK	27 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ROK or AME a better dividend stock?

Rockwell Automation pays an annual dividend of $5.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. AMETEK pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Rockwell Automation pays out 61.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AMETEK pays out 20.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Rockwell Automation has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years and AMETEK has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Rockwell Automation is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts recommend ROK or AME?

Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus target price of $340.16, suggesting a potential downside of 2.13%. AMETEK has a consensus target price of $208.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.48%. Given AMETEK's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AMETEK is more favorable than Rockwell Automation.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rockwell Automation	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63
AMETEK	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.46

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, ROK or AME?

AMETEK has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Rockwell Automation. AMETEK is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rockwell Automation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rockwell Automation	$8.26B	4.73	$952.50M	$8.52	40.79
AMETEK	$6.94B	6.15	$1.38B	$6.21	29.78

Is ROK or AME more profitable?

AMETEK has a net margin of 20.60% compared to Rockwell Automation's net margin of 12.03%. Rockwell Automation's return on equity of 30.14% beat AMETEK's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rockwell Automation	12.03%	30.14%	9.83%
AMETEK	20.60%	16.53%	10.98%

Summary

Rockwell Automation beats AMETEK on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.