BNP Paribas Begins Coverage on Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK)

BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. BNP Paribas’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 20.45% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price target for the company. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $285.13.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $286.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $267.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.69. 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 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $312.76.

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

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth $589,000. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 3.0% during the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 41,699 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,195,000 after buying an additional 1,223 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 14.0% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,897 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,128,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $303,041,000 after acquiring an additional 67,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.5% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 9,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,585,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

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.