Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.25

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 9th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of 1.25 per share by the industrial products company on Monday, June 10th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th.

Rockwell Automation has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Rockwell Automation has a payout ratio of 37.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Rockwell Automation to earn $13.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.9%.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE ROK opened at $273.54 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 stock has a market capitalization of $31.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $281.90 and a 200-day moving average of $283.11.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 37.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 11.98 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ROK. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Rockwell Automation from $310.00 to $304.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $254.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $312.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.93.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret acquired 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $283.64 per share, for a total transaction of $992,740.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,901,262.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.52, for a total transaction of $140,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,229,519.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret acquired 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired 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 directly owns 77,215 shares in the company, valued at $21,901,262.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,240 shares of company stock valued at $4,891,324. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company 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.