Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Takes $32.90 Million Position in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,264,576 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,904,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned 0.72% of Archrock as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AROC. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Archrock during the fourth quarter valued at $61,144,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Archrock during the third quarter valued at $19,603,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Archrock during the second quarter valued at $16,027,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Archrock by 43.8% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,009,230 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $52,863,000 after acquiring an additional 611,773 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Archrock by 5,825.5% during the third quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 483,996 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $12,734,000 after acquiring an additional 475,828 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Archrock news, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 98,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.76, for a total value of $3,408,218.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 484,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,835,554.12. This represents a 16.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Donna A. Henderson sold 10,413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total value of $382,573.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,019,792.18. This trade represents a 27.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 179,963 shares of company stock worth $6,336,907 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AROC shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 price target on Archrock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Archrock from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Archrock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Archrock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.86.

Archrock Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:AROC opened at $37.41 on Friday. Archrock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.17 and a 1-year high of $40.12. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.94.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.05). Archrock had a net margin of 21.45% and a return on equity of 22.89%. The company had revenue of $373.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $378.36 million. Archrock’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.83%.

Archrock Profile

Archrock, Inc is a Houston‐based provider of natural gas compression services and equipment to the oil and gas industry in North America. Founded in 2004, the company supplies both short‐term rentals and long‐term contracts for compression solutions, serving upstream and midstream producers. Archrock’s offerings include engineered compression systems, aftermarket parts, maintenance and field services designed to optimize wellhead and pipeline operations.

The company’s core business activities focus on the design, manufacture, rental and sale of gas compression equipment.