Earnest Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Earnest Partners LLC cut its holdings in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,806,170 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 16,188 shares during the period. Archrock comprises 1.3% of Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 6.73% of Archrock worth $310,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Archrock by 0.8% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 60,026 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Archrock by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 95,866 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,514,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of Archrock by 164.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,082 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archrock Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:AROC opened at $34.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Archrock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.12 and a 52-week high of $37.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.00 and its 200 day moving average is $27.04.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The energy company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $377.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $378.04 million. Archrock had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 23.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AROC. Citigroup raised their price target on Archrock from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Archrock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Archrock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Zacks Research raised shares of Archrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Archrock from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $37.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Donna A. Henderson sold 10,413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total value of $382,573.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,019,792.18. This represents a 27.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.