Archrock, Inc. $AROC Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 39.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 292,685 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,897 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.17% of Archrock worth $10,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Archrock by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 971 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Archrock during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Archrock during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Archrock during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Archrock by 217.9% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,316 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archrock Stock Performance

Shares of AROC opened at $35.73 on Friday. Archrock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.17 and a 12-month high of $42.23. The stock has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.84. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $36.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.10.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 EPS 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 business had revenue of $373.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $378.36 million. The company’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Archrock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 price objective on Archrock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Archrock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $41.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Archrock

In related news, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 90,000 shares of Archrock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total transaction of $3,306,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 394,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,487,941.38. This trade represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $1,260,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 277,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,595,968.26. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 158,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,907,370 in the last three months. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.