Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 26,538 Shares of Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,256,953 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 26,538 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.72% of Archrock worth $32,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Archrock by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,833 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. 1492 Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Archrock by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 12,515 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 2,034 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock in the fourth quarter worth $1,611,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Archrock by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,082,825 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $54,195,000 after buying an additional 85,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Archrock by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,302,819 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $85,939,000 after buying an additional 400,292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Stock Up 0.6%

AROC opened at $35.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Archrock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.17 and a 52 week high of $40.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.89.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $373.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $378.36 million. Archrock had a net margin of 21.45% and a return on equity of 22.89%. Archrock’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 98,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.76, for a total value of $3,408,218.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 484,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,835,554.12. This represents a 16.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $1,260,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 277,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,595,968.26. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 327,550 shares of company stock worth $11,861,703. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AROC. Citigroup increased their price objective on Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Archrock from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Archrock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Archrock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Archrock from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Archrock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.14.

About Archrock

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.