66,432 Shares in Archrock, Inc. $AROC Purchased by Sandler Capital Management

Key Points

• Sandler Capital Management has acquired a new position in Archrock, Inc., purchasing 66,432 shares valued at approximately $1.74 million.
• The latest earnings report indicated that Archrock reported $0.39 earnings per share, surpassing analyst expectations, along with a significant revenue increase of 41.6% compared to the previous year.
• Archrock has recently announced an increased quarterly dividend, now at $0.21 per share, providing a yield of 3.3%, up from the previous dividend of $0.19.

Sandler Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 66,432 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $1,743,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AROC. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Archrock during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,092,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archrock in the first quarter worth $25,374,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Archrock by 186.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,047,346 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,068,000 after acquiring an additional 681,160 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Archrock in the first quarter worth $12,359,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Archrock by 9.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,388,964 shares of the energy company's stock worth $141,406,000 after acquiring an additional 461,940 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company's stock.

Archrock Stock Performance

AROC stock traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.02. The stock had a trading volume of 1,713,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,360,905. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14. Archrock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.38 and a 52 week high of $30.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $383.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $366.34 million. Archrock had a return on equity of 18.74% and a net margin of 17.17%.Archrock's quarterly revenue was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. Archrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Archrock in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Archrock from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 10,000 shares of Archrock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $5,292,003.86. The trade was a 4.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.