Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Plans Dividend Increase – $1.31 Per Share

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 31st, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of 1.31 per share by the industrial products company on Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25.

Rockwell Automation has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Rockwell Automation has a dividend payout ratio of 47.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Rockwell Automation to earn $10.33 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 48.4%.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $266.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.81. The company has a market cap of $30.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a PEG ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.09%. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays reduced their price target on Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $286.47.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

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.