LPL Financial LLC Sells 4,451 Shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

LPL Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 119,654 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 4,451 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Archrock worth $3,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Archrock by 164.8% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 964 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Archrock during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its position in Archrock by 57.3% during the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 3,474 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Archrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $126,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Archrock by 13.2% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,030 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AROC opened at $23.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.10. Archrock, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.38 and a twelve month high of $30.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.86.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The energy company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.02. Archrock had a net margin of 17.17% and a return on equity of 18.74%. The company had revenue of $383.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $366.34 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Archrock’s revenue was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

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

Archrock Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Archrock

In other news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 directly owned 224,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,292,003.86. This trade represents a 4.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AROC shares. Sidoti upgraded shares of Archrock to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.40.

About Archrock

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.