Nomura Securities Maintains a 'Buy' on Rockwell Automation (ROK); 1Q Review

Nomura Securities maintains a 'Buy' on Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) price target raised from $87 to $93.

Analyst, Shannon O'Callaghan, said, "ROK reported EPS of $1.27 vs. our $1.23 and consensus of $1.21, on sales growth of 8% (8% core) and solid operating margin of 19.3%, 180bp better than our 17.5% estimate. Guidance stays at $5.05-$5.45 ($6.2-$6.5B sales, ~18% OP margin). Despite some sales choppiness in the quarter, ROK posted a solid $0.04 beat on impressive leverage (57% incremental margins). Although the lack of a guidance raise likely caused a pull-back in the stock, we came away from the quarter more positive as we expect further strength in the U.S. and a rebound in Asia combined with solid leverage and continued Process traction. We see upside potential to management’s 18% margin target for FY12 and raise our 2012E EPS to $5.45, 2013E EPS to $6.15 and price target to $93 on 17x our 2012 estimate."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Rockwell Automation click here. For more ratings news on Rockwell Automation click here.

Shares of Rockwell Automation closed at $79.42 yesterday.

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Rockwell Automation (ROK) PT Raised to $514 at Bernstein SocGen Group
• SoundThinking (SSTI) PT Lowered to $8 at Cantor Fitzgerald
• Powell Industries (POWL) PT Lowered to $235 at Cantor Fitzgerald