With inflation shrinking and a nearly $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill kicking in, construction at companies in various industries is poised to benefit. Not all will rise though, only the cream of the crop. Rockwell Automation looks like it could be in that winners group. On Thursday, the Relative Strength (RS) Rating for Rockwell stock rose from 79 to 82.
The upgraded 82 RS Rating shows that Rockwell stock outpaced 82% of all stocks this past year. Market research shows that stocks that go on to make the biggest gains typically have an RS Rating north of 80 in the early stages of their moves.
Rockwell Stock Among Top Performers
Rockwell Automation makes a wide variety of "smart" products including circuitry protection systems, industrial computers and monitors, motion control and security systems, design systems, analytic systems and other products. It also sells to just about every industry including autos, marine, mining, oil & gas, aerospace, entertainment and others.
Among its other key ratings, Rockwell stock has a 93 Composite Rating out of 99, putting it in the top 7% of stocks overall. Its 90 Earnings Per Share Rating reflects strong profit growth the past three years, with emphasis on the two most recent quarters. A yellow flag is its D- Accumulation/Distribution Rating, which shows that big funds are selling more shares than buying. On the positive side, it boasts an A SMR Rating (sales + profit margins + return on equity), showing it has strong fundamentals.
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Among those fundamentals, Rockwell Automation has reported double-digit profit growth every quarter this past year, ranging from 13% to 81%. Sales growth ranged from 7% to 26% over that period. It recorded 13% EPS growth in its most recent report, to $3.01. Sales grew 14% year over year to $2.24 billion.
Stock Rose Near All-Time High Recently
Rockwell stock rose to an all-time high 353.43 in November 2021. It consolidated then and formed a long cup based. It rose to 348.52 on July 18 this year, then retreated amid the current market contraction. While now is not an ideal time to jump in, see if Rockwell stock manages to offer and clear a proper buy point. On Thursday it was up about 1%, trading just over 300 and on track for its fourth higher close in the last five trading sessions.
Rockwell stock holds the No. 9 rank among its peers in the 44-stock Electrical Power/Equipment industry group. Powell Industries and Vertiv Holdings are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
When you're researching the best stocks to buy and watch, keep a close on eye on relative price strength.
IBD's unique Relative Strength Rating identifies price action with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The grade shows how a stock's price behavior over the last 52 weeks holds up against all the other stocks in our database.
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