Rockwell Automation, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.31 (NYSE:ROK)

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of 1.31 per share by the industrial products company on Monday, March 10th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%.

Rockwell Automation has raised its dividend by an average of 5.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Rockwell Automation has a dividend payout ratio of 47.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Rockwell Automation to earn $11.04 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.5%.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $270.36 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $287.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.09. The company has a market cap of $30.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.35. Rockwell Automation has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $304.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ROK. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.16.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total value of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,363,536. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,857 shares of company stock worth $10,678,037. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.