PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,757 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Archrock were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Archrock by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 13,074,904 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $325,434,000 after purchasing an additional 47,563 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Archrock by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,241,032 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $55,779,000 after purchasing an additional 376,564 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Archrock by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,957,444 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $48,721,000 after purchasing an additional 75,684 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Archrock by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 1,647,222 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $43,223,000 after purchasing an additional 32,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Archrock in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,241,000. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AROC. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Sidoti raised shares of Archrock to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Archrock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.40.

Archrock Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:AROC opened at $23.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.81. Archrock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.38 and a 1 year high of $30.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.92.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The energy company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $366.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.64%.

Archrock declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, May 5th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy company to repurchase up to 1.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Archrock news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $5,292,003.86. This represents a 4.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.