319,256 Archrock, Inc. $AROC Shares Bought by Congress Asset Management Co.

Key Points

• Congress Asset Management increased its Archrock stake by 14.4%, buying 319,256 shares in the third quarter to own 2.53 million shares valued at approximately $76.7 million, or 1.44% of the company.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 95.45%, with BlackRock, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon and other major investors establishing or expanding positions.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $42.29 price target, despite Archrock missing quarterly earnings and revenue estimates. The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.23, equivalent to a 3.0% annual yield.

Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 14.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,532,464 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 319,256 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned 1.44% of Archrock worth $76,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Archrock during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,217,511,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Archrock in the second quarter valued at approximately $262,070,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Archrock in the second quarter worth $84,463,000. Energy Income Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archrock during the 2nd quarter worth $58,510,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Archrock during the 2nd quarter worth $51,617,000. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Archrock from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Archrock from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore set a $40.00 price objective on Archrock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Archrock from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Archrock from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archrock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.29.

Archrock Stock Performance

Shares of AROC traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $30.83. 1,839,277 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,761,802. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock's fifty day moving average is $32.32 and its 200 day moving average is $35.23. Archrock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.88 and a 1-year high of $42.23. The stock has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.92.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $371.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $393.19 million. Archrock had a return on equity of 22.22% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Archrock's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.46%.

Archrock Profile

Archrock, Inc NYSE: AROC is a Houston-based provider of natural gas compression services and equipment. The company supports the production, gathering, processing, transportation and storage of natural gas by supplying compression infrastructure that helps maintain pressure and move gas through energy systems.

Archrock's principal business is contract compression, in which it owns and operates a fleet of natural gas compressors and provides them to customers under service agreements.

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