Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.1429.

AROC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Archrock from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Archrock from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research raised shares of Archrock from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Archrock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Dawson James restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Archrock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th.

Archrock Stock Performance

AROC opened at $35.53 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.87. Archrock has a 1 year low of $20.12 and a 1 year high of $37.72.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.29. Archrock had a return on equity of 23.57% and a net margin of 21.63%.The firm had revenue of $377.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $378.04 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. Archrock’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Archrock will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Archrock’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio is 48.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Donna A. Henderson sold 10,413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total value of $382,573.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,019,792.18. The trade was a 27.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Security Advisor Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Archrock by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 12,000 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Archrock by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,290 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Severin Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Archrock by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 20,111 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Archrock by 71.0% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 971 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Archrock by 3.0% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 15,030 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.