Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.07 EPS

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07, Briefing.com reports. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.09% and a net margin of 11.56%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation updated its FY25 guidance to $8.60-9.80 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance to 8.600-9.800 EPS.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock traded down $4.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $272.89. The stock had a trading volume of 608,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,123. The firm has a market cap of $30.96 billion, a PE ratio of 31.01, a PEG ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation has a fifty-two week low of $242.81 and a fifty-two week high of $312.76. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 56.82%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ROK. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $284.21.

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.