Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its price target increased by Citigroup from $313.00 to $345.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. KeyCorp raised Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.75.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $298.68 on Monday. Rockwell Automation has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $312.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $278.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $269.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $33.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program 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 buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,000. This trade represents a 21.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,070 shares of company stock worth $10,142,408. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ROK. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the third quarter valued at approximately $912,000. Vicus Capital bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the third quarter worth $304,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 3.1% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 670,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $179,873,000 after purchasing an additional 19,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 8.8% in the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 33,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.