Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.22

Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.22 per share by the energy company on Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. This is a 4.8% increase from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21.

Archrock has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Archrock has a payout ratio of 45.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Archrock to earn $1.37 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.3%.

Archrock Stock Performance

Archrock stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $29.74. 231,157 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,290,442. Archrock has a 12-month low of $20.12 and a 12-month high of $30.19. The business’s 50-day moving average is $25.87 and its 200-day moving average is $24.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.01. Archrock had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 18.43%.The business had revenue of $382.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $379.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Archrock will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Archrock

In related news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 40,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $1,022,574.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 184,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,623,821.60. This represents a 18.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archrock

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,144,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Archrock in the third quarter valued at $19,603,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Archrock in the second quarter worth $16,027,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 611,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Archrock by 78.7% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,237,956 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $30,738,000 after purchasing an additional 545,336 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.