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

UBS Group upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:ROK traded down $1.46 on Tuesday, reaching $284.97. 432,464 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 880,626. The company has a market capitalization of $32.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Rockwell Automation has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.83.

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

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

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

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.