Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,376 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 2,038 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Archrock were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Archrock by 164.8% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 964 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Archrock in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Archrock by 580.6% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,485 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 3,826 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Archrock in the fourth quarter worth about $126,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Archrock in the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $1,029,461.64. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 275,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,757,060.39. This trade represents a 13.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AROC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sidoti raised Archrock to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Archrock from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Archrock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.67.

Archrock Price Performance

Shares of Archrock stock opened at $23.33 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.84 and a 200 day moving average of $25.55. Archrock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.27 and a 12 month high of $30.44. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $347.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $342.98 million. Archrock had a return on equity of 18.31% and a net margin of 16.38%. On average, research analysts expect that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archrock declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, May 5th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to purchase up to 1.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.41%.

Archrock Company Profile

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.