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Rockwell Automation (ROK) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Rockwell Automation (ROK - Free Report) closed at $283.95, marking a -0.67% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.01% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.22%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.67%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the industrial equipment and software maker had lost 8.97% over the past month. This has lagged the Industrial Products sector's loss of 4.88% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.45% in that time.

Rockwell Automation will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, Rockwell Automation is projected to report earnings of $3.49 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 14.8%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.43 billion, up 14.26% from the year-ago period.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Rockwell Automation. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.05% higher. Rockwell Automation is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Rockwell Automation has a Forward P/E ratio of 23.92 right now. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 27.44.

Meanwhile, ROK's PEG ratio is currently 2. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Industrial Automation and Robotics stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 5.9 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Industrial Automation and Robotics industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 109, which puts it in the top 44% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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