Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.35 EPS

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The industrial products company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.35, Briefing.com reports. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 37.22%. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Rockwell Automation updated its FY24 guidance to $10.00-11.00 EPS.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK stock opened at $273.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.25. Rockwell Automation has a 52 week low of $252.11 and a 52 week high of $348.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $281.90 and its 200 day moving average is $283.11. The firm has a market cap of $31.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret purchased 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $283.64 per share, with a total value of $992,740.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,215 shares in the company, valued at $21,901,262.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret bought 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $283.64 per share, with a total value of $992,740.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 77,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,901,262.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Nicholas C. Gangestad sold 1,989 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.17, for a total transaction of $573,170.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,520,572.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,240 shares of company stock valued at $4,891,324 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ROK. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $254.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $310.00 to $304.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.93.

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.