Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Price Target Raised to $255.00 at Barclays

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its target price increased by Barclays from $245.00 to $255.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ROK. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. 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. 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $284.21.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $277.82 on Friday. Rockwell Automation has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $312.76. The stock has a market cap of $31.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $266.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.56.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 60.39%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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 shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ROK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,611,915,000 after buying an additional 5,006,706 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,326,000 after purchasing an additional 933,025 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,135,000 after purchasing an additional 700,745 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,092,891,000 after purchasing an additional 438,356 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.