Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,163,783 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 84,715 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Archrock were worth $108,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AROC. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Archrock by 3.3% during 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 stake in shares of Archrock by 15,293.5% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 138,388 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 137,489 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Archrock by 19.8% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 264,991 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,972,000 after buying an additional 43,872 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Archrock by 17.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 438,624 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $11,540,000 after buying an additional 64,041 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Archrock in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,904,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Stock Performance

Shares of AROC stock opened at $34.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.66. Archrock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.17 and a 52 week high of $40.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Archrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AROC shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 target price on Archrock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Archrock from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Dawson James restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Archrock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Archrock from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Archrock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Archrock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 98,050 shares of Archrock stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.76, for a total value of $3,408,218.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 484,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,835,554.12. The trade was a 16.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 33,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 277,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,595,968.26. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 327,550 shares of company stock worth $11,861,703. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Company 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.