SouthState Corp Buys 2,887 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

SouthState Corp increased its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 6.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,887 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $12,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 100.0% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on ROK shares. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $283.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $312.76. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.97 billion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 60.39%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were 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. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation 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.