Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $2.71 Million Investment in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 77,800 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,707,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AROC. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 71.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 971 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Archrock in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Archrock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Archrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Archrock by 217.9% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,316 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archrock Price Performance

Shares of AROC stock opened at $41.91 on Monday. Archrock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.17 and a twelve month high of $42.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.12. 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 market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.87.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $373.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $378.36 million. Archrock had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 21.45%.The business’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Archrock news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $1,260,270.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 277,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,595,968.26. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 90,000 shares of Archrock stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were 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 represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 158,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,907,370. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 price target on Archrock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Archrock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Archrock from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $41.14.

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.