Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Upgraded by UBS Group to “Hold” Rating

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was upgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on ROK. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $285.54. The stock had a trading volume of 387,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 880,626. The company’s fifty day moving average is $268.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Rockwell Automation has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $312.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 9.46 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,092,891,000 after buying an additional 438,356 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,915,000 after buying an additional 5,006,706 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $417,802,000 after buying an additional 390,784 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 32.0% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,510,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $439,912,000 after buying an additional 365,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,227,000 after buying an additional 1,184,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services.