Al Root

Shares of automation-technology provider Rockwell Automation rose Wednesday after not one, but two analysts boosted their targets for the price.

Rockwell stock was up 0.6% at $348.52, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.2%.

"Rockwell is levered to the industrial cycle, reshoring, and has a long runway on cost savings," wrote BofA Securities analyst Andrew Obin in a research report.

While the industrial cycle hasn't been cooperating lately -- that part of the economy has been sluggish for years -- things are beginning to turn around, Obin said.

The Institute for Supply Management's Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, came in at 49 in June, just below the level of 50 that indicates growth. The June reading was the fourth consecutive reading below that level, and the January reading, at 50.9, snapped a streak of 26 consecutive months below 50, one of the worst on record for the index.

"Pricing is another source of upside," Obin wrote. "Large projects are delayed due to trade deal uncertainty. We expect trade deals to be signed before year-end 2025, which we think accelerates organic growth [for Rockwell] in 2026 [and] 2027."

He took his rating to Buy from Hold and increased his target for the stock price to $410 from $360. Stephens analyst Tommy Moll, meanwhile, raised his price target to $375 from $350 a share on Wednesday, keeping a Buy rating on the stock.

With the changes, 53% of analysts covering the stock rate shares Buy, according to FactSet. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%.

The average analyst price target for Rockwell stock is about $343 a share, up from about $285 in early April, just after President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, but it remains slightly below the stock's current level.

Wall Street has had trouble keeping up as Rockwell stock has risen more than 50% from their April low.

Investors have been increasingly optimistic about the outlook for American manufacturing for a few months. Wall Street is starting to get more optimistic, too.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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July 16, 2025 12:21 ET (16:21 GMT)

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