Zacks Research Upgrades Archrock (NYSE:AROC) to Strong-Buy

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on AROC. Mizuho upped their price objective on Archrock from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Archrock from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Archrock in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Archrock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Archrock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Archrock Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Archrock stock opened at $24.68 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.30. Archrock has a 12-month low of $19.73 and a 12-month high of $30.44. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The energy company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. Archrock had a return on equity of 18.74% and a net margin of 17.17%.The business had revenue of $383.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $366.34 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Archrock’s revenue was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Archrock will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jason C. Rebrook bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.94 per share, for a total transaction of $119,700.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 79,511 shares in the company, valued at $1,903,493.34. This trade represents a 6.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $235,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 224,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,292,003.86. This represents a 4.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Archrock by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 9,032 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Archrock by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,247 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Archrock by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 38,161 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Archrock by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Archrock by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 12,761 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

About Archrock

Archrock, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Contract Operations and Aftermarket Services. It engages in the designing, sourcing, owning, installing, operating, servicing, repairing, and maintaining of its owned fleet of natural gas compression equipment to provide natural gas compression services.