Rockwell Automation raised its quarterly dividend to $1.45 per share, the company said in a release on 30 October.
What Rockwell Automation raises its dividend: can the filings support it? announced
At the latest share price of $436.20, the declared rate works out to a yield of 1.3% a year.
Can it afford it?
The dividend is covered by both earnings and cash generation. Over the twelve months to Q3 2026, Rockwell paid $611.0 million in dividends, which was 50.9% of net income and 40.6% of free cash flow, leaving cash over after the payment.
What Rockwell Automation raises its dividend: can the filings support it?'s latest figures show
Profit is outgrowing sales. Net income over the twelve months to Q3 2026 was $1.2 billion, up 23.7% on the year before, while revenue of $9.0 billion rose 11.3%. The revenue growth rate was itself up 0.8 percentage points on the quarter before, so the top line is not slowing while the bottom line pulls ahead.
The margin structure is the mechanism. A trailing gross margin of 49.1% and operating margin of 22.7% feed through to a net margin of 13.4%, the path by which a larger share of each revenue dollar reaches the bottom line.
Cash flow follows. Operating cash flow of $1.7 billion rose 13.8% on the year before; capital spending of $228.0 million, or 2.5% of revenue, left free cash flow of $1.5 billion, up 13.9%. The free-cash-flow margin of 16.8% was up 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier, and the average diluted share count fell 0.9% over the year, which increases per-share figures.
Against its own history, the current levels sit in the upper range. The free-cash-flow margin of 16.8% is higher than 85% of past quarterly readings, which have ranged from 5.1% to 19.0%. The revenue growth rate of 11.3% is higher than 82% of past readings, which have ranged from −11.7% to 23.5%.
What Rockwell Automation raises its dividend: can the filings support it?'s share price implies against our model
Our model is sensitive to the growth assumption. A free-cash-flow margin 1 percentage point lower would reduce the value by 6.0%.
What Rockwell Automation raises its dividend: can the filings support it?'s next report has to show
The next filing will show whether cash flow keeps pace with what the company is returning to shareholders.
