Archrock (NYSE:AROC) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Archrock shares gapped down before the open (prior close $39.83, opened $36.75) and were last trading around $38.51 on volume of 529,478 shares, roughly down 1.6% intraday.
• Research firms give a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average target of $39.00, while RBC and Stifel recently raised targets to $40 and issued outperform/buy ratings.
• Q1 results beat on EPS ($0.69 vs. $0.40 expected) with revenue up 15.5% year-over-year, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share (2.2% yield; ex-dividend May 12).

Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $39.83, but opened at $36.75. Archrock shares last traded at $38.5120, with a volume of 529,478 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AROC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Dawson James restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Archrock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective 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 cut Archrock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Archrock from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.00.

Archrock Trading Down 1.6%

The stock has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.29. Archrock had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 23.57%. The company had revenue of $377.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $378.04 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Archrock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Archrock's payout ratio is 48.09%.

Insider Transactions at Archrock

In other news, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 98,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.76, for a total transaction of $3,408,218.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 484,337 shares in the company, valued at $16,835,554.12. This represents a 16.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Donna A. Henderson sold 10,413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total value of $382,573.62. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 179,963 shares of company stock valued at $6,336,907. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Archrock by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 23,505 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 2,497 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Archrock by 1,817.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,670 shares of the energy company's stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 7,270 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Archrock during the first quarter worth $1,015,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Archrock by 2.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 857,373 shares of the energy company's stock worth $29,837,000 after acquiring an additional 18,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in Archrock by 2.6% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 43,752 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company's stock.

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.

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