5 Best Automation Stocks To Buy Now

4. Honeywell International Inc. (NASDAQ:HON)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 53

Honeywell International Inc. (NASDAQ:HON) is a North Carolina-based diversified technology and manufacturing company. It operates through Aerospace, Honeywell Building Technologies, Performance Materials and Technologies, and Safety and Productivity Solutions segments. Its Performance Materials and Technologies segment offers automation control, instrumentation, software, and related services. It is one of the best automation stocks to invest in. 

On December 9, Citi analyst Andrew Kaplowitz raised the price target on Honeywell International Inc. (NASDAQ:HON) to $248 from $213 and maintained a Buy rating on the shares. The analyst noted that improving price versus cost trends and gradually advancing supply chains should remain supportive of higher profitability for most of the industrial sector. 

According to Insider Monkey’s data, Honeywell International Inc. (NASDAQ:HON) was part of 53 hedge fund portfolios at the end of September 2022, compared to 42 in the prior quarter. Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital is a prominent stakeholder of the company, with 1.14 million shares worth $190.2 million. 

Here is what ClearBridge Investments has to say about Honeywell International Inc. (NASDAQ:HON) in its Q1 2021 investor letter:

“The portfolio’s quality bias and valuation discipline have generated compelling returns over time with typically strong relative results in more challenging environments as it did through the first three quarters of 2020. However, that same quality bias tends to create a more challenging relative performance environment for the Strategy during periods of sharp economic acceleration, which tend to benefit stocks that are more commodity linked or of lower quality. This has been the case during the vaccine- and stimulus-driven rally experienced late last year and during the most recent quarter. Sectors that lagged in the quarter included industrials, Honeywell also lagged in the quarter after previously generating strong returns over extended periods.”