GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Stock Position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 26.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,098 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 1,917 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Archrock were worth $239,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Archrock by 6,866.0% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 43,050 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 42,432 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Archrock by 164.8% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 964 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Archrock in the 1st quarter worth about $264,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Archrock in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Archrock during the first quarter valued at about $1,312,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE AROC opened at $24.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.08. Archrock, Inc. has a one year low of $17.27 and a one year high of $30.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.58.

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

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.41%.

Archrock declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, May 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to buy up to 1.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on AROC shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Archrock to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Archrock news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 275,911 shares in the company, valued at $6,757,060.39. This represents a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Archrock 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.