Norges Bank Takes Position in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 719,502 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,721,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Archrock by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,077,999 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $159,912,000 after acquiring an additional 191,914 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Archrock by 15,293.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Archrock by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 264,991 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,972,000 after purchasing an additional 43,872 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Archrock by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 438,624 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $11,540,000 after purchasing an additional 64,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archrock in the 4th quarter worth $32,904,000. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AROC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Dawson James reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Archrock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 price target on Archrock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Archrock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Archrock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $41.14.

Archrock Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE AROC opened at $35.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Archrock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.17 and a 12-month high of $40.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.89.

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

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Archrock

In other news, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 35,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 359,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,762,607.10. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $1,260,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 277,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,595,968.26. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 327,550 shares of company stock worth $11,861,703. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

About Archrock

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.