Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Takes $314,000 Position in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Key Points

• Aristeia Capital L.L.C. purchased 11,984 shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC), valued at around $314,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the energy company.
• Archrock recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.21 per share, up from $0.19, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.5%.
• Analysts maintain a "Moderate Buy" consensus rating for Archrock, with target prices ranging from $30.00 to $32.00, following a quarter where the company exceeded EPS expectations.

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,984 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 164.8% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 964 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Archrock during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Archrock by 217.9% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,316 shares of the energy company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Archrock by 119.6% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 1,599 shares of the energy company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Archrock during the first quarter worth about $47,000. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AROC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Archrock in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Archrock from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archrock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.00.

Archrock Stock Performance

AROC stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,150,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,394,748. The firm has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of 18.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.81. Archrock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.23 and a 12 month high of $30.44. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $23.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.41.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The energy company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $383.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $366.34 million. Archrock had a net margin of 17.17% and a return on equity of 18.74%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. Archrock's payout ratio is presently 63.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Archrock news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 10,000 shares of Archrock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $235,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 224,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,292,003.86. The trade was a 4.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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.