Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to “Buy” Rating

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $350.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $290.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 17.73% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. KeyCorp upgraded 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, December 9th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $301.17.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $297.28 on Thursday. Rockwell Automation has a 1 year low of $242.81 and a 1 year high of $312.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $280.23 and its 200 day moving average is $269.73. The stock has a market cap of $33.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 1,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $338,553.21. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,754 shares in the company, valued at $24,690,525.54. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total value of $83,967.12. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $961,695.36. This represents a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,541 shares of company stock worth $10,586,674. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 2.7% during the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.