Wellington Management Group LLP Makes New $12.36 Million Investment in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP acquired 471,007 shares of Archrock, valued at approximately $12.36 million, increasing its ownership to about 0.27% of the company.
• Archrock announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.21 per share, leading to an annualized dividend of $0.84 and a 3.4% yield, up from the previous $0.19.
• Evercore ISI has revised Archrock's price target down from $32.00 to $31.00 while maintaining an "outperform" rating, amid positive quarterly earnings results exceeding expectations.

Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 471,007 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $12,359,000. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.27% of Archrock as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Archrock by 12.9% during the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 576,570 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $15,129,000 after purchasing an additional 65,695 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock during the first quarter valued at $417,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Archrock by 9.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,388,964 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $141,406,000 after purchasing an additional 461,940 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock during the first quarter valued at $348,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock during the first quarter valued at $386,000. 95.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AROC shares. Sidoti raised shares of Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Archrock from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.00.

Archrock Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:AROC traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 183,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,412,413. Archrock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.38 and a 1 year high of $30.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.84 and a 200-day moving average of $24.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.17% and a return on equity of 18.74%. The company had revenue of $383.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $366.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. 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 permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to purchase up to 1.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Archrock news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 10,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 224,809 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.