Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 17,613 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $462,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Archrock by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,459 shares of the energy company's stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Archrock by 4.7% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 12,761 shares of the energy company's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in Archrock by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 10,133 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Archrock by 164.8% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 964 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Archrock by 0.4% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 146,819 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,853,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Archrock Price Performance

Shares of Archrock stock traded up $0.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,240,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,425,633. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Archrock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.38 and a 12 month high of $30.44. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.10. The business's 50-day moving average is $24.10 and its 200 day moving average is $25.07.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The energy company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.02. Archrock had a return on equity of 18.74% and a net margin of 17.17%. The business had revenue of $383.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $366.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Archrock's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.64%.

Archrock declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, May 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to buy up to 1.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AROC. Sidoti upgraded Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Archrock from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Archrock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.40.

About Archrock

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.