Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 26,970 Shares of Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 849,372 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 26,970 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.48% of Archrock worth $22,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Archrock by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 60,026 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Archrock by 3.3% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,247 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Archrock by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Archrock by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 69,977 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Archrock by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 95,866 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,514,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Archrock

In related news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 40,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $1,022,574.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 184,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,623,821.60. The trade was a 18.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Archrock Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of NYSE AROC opened at $32.07 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Archrock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.12 and a 1 year high of $32.42. The firm has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.93.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Archrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Archrock in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Archrock from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Archrock from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Archrock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $32.40.

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.