Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $327.00 to $371.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on ROK. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.21.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $324.56 on Wednesday. Rockwell Automation has a 52-week low of $215.00 and a 52-week high of $324.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $270.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.69. The firm has a market cap of $36.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.17% and a net margin of 11.38%. Rockwell Automation’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 65.99%.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 939 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.24, for a total transaction of $285,681.36. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 983 shares in the company, valued at $299,067.92. This represents a 48.86% 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. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.97, for a total value of $70,015.31. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,007,529.73. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,405 shares of company stock valued at $1,640,796 over the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,876,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,965,774,000 after acquiring an additional 81,079 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,033,476,000 after purchasing an additional 432,934 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,734,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $779,426,000 after acquiring an additional 51,228 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $580,095,000 after purchasing an additional 430,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,819,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $470,091,000 after acquiring an additional 191,370 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.