Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP Invests $9.64 Million in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 276,944 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,638,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Archrock by 15,293.5% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 138,388 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 137,489 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archrock in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,611,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Archrock by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,685,080 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $43,846,000 after buying an additional 308,246 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Archrock during the fourth quarter worth about $32,904,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Archrock by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 127,471 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after acquiring an additional 36,847 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Archrock stock opened at $35.63 on Tuesday. Archrock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.17 and a 12-month high of $42.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $373.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $378.36 million. Archrock had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 21.45%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Archrock news, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 35,000 shares of Archrock stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.30, for a total value of $1,340,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 359,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,762,607.10. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 33,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $1,260,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 277,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,595,968.26. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 158,000 shares of company stock worth $5,907,370. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on AROC shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Archrock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Archrock from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 price objective on Archrock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Archrock from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Archrock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.71.

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.