Rockwell Automation (ROK) Competitors

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) and Eaton (NYSE:ETN) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, risk, valuation, profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, ROK or ETN?

Eaton has higher revenue and earnings than Rockwell Automation. Eaton 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	$7.97B	4.59	$952.50M	$7.94	40.82
Eaton	$25.31B	5.03	$3.79B	$9.91	32.86

Is ROK or ETN more profitable?

Eaton has a net margin of 15.25% compared to Rockwell Automation's net margin of 11.38%. Rockwell Automation's return on equity of 30.17% beat Eaton's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rockwell Automation	11.38%	30.17%	9.75%
Eaton	15.25%	22.62%	11.10%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ROK or ETN?

Eaton received 297 more outperform votes than Rockwell Automation when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.31% of users gave Eaton an outperform vote while only 55.08% of users gave Rockwell Automation an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Rockwell Automation	Outperform Votes 640 55.08%	Underperform Votes 522 44.92%
Eaton	Outperform Votes 937 66.31%	Underperform Votes 476 33.69%

Does the media refer more to ROK or ETN?

In the previous week, Eaton had 20 more articles in the media than Rockwell Automation. MarketBeat recorded 45 mentions for Eaton and 25 mentions for Rockwell Automation. Eaton's average media sentiment score of 1.49 beat Rockwell Automation's score of 0.76 indicating that Eaton is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Rockwell Automation	14 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Eaton	35 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate ROK or ETN?

Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus target price of $316.21, indicating a potential downside of 2.45%. Eaton has a consensus target price of $368.78, indicating a potential upside of 13.26%. Given Eaton's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Eaton is more favorable than Rockwell Automation.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rockwell Automation	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58
Eaton	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.74

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

75.8% of Rockwell Automation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of Eaton shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Rockwell Automation shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Eaton shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, ROK or ETN?

Rockwell Automation has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Eaton has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ROK or ETN a better dividend stock?

Rockwell Automation pays an annual dividend of $5.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Eaton pays an annual dividend of $4.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Rockwell Automation pays out 66.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Eaton pays out 42.0% 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. Rockwell Automation is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Eaton beats Rockwell Automation on 15 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.