Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $489.99 and last traded at $486.5340, with a volume of 31361 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $482.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $501.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $462.82.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 2.3%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $449.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $413.85. The stock has a market cap of $53.82 billion, a PE ratio of 50.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value of $173,612.27. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total value of $449,025.08. Following the sale, the vice president owned 5,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,102.30. The trade was a 15.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 12,009 shares of company stock worth $5,232,471 in the last quarter. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sapient Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 53.2% during the first quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the first quarter valued at about $164,000. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 54.2% in the first quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 36,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,995,000 after buying an additional 12,727 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth about $2,117,000. Finally, DV Trading LLC grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 433.3% during the 1st quarter. DV Trading LLC now owns 640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

Rockwell Automation is a global industrial automation and digital transformation company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The firm designs, manufactures and supports control systems, industrial control hardware and software, and related services that help manufacturers and industrial operators automate processes, improve productivity and enable data-driven decision making. Rockwell traces its heritage to the Allen-Bradley and Rockwell automation businesses and positions itself as a provider of integrated automation solutions across discrete and process industries.

The company’s product portfolio includes programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), variable frequency drives, sensors, safety components and other industrial control hardware, often marketed under the Allen-Bradley brand.