Allianz Asset Management GmbH Has $7.20 Million Stock Holdings in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH reduced its stake in Archrock, Inc. by 4.4%, now holding approximately 0.16% of the company, valued at $7.2 million.
• Archrock recently declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.21 per share, with a payout ratio of 64.41%, while also initiating a $50 million stock buyback plan.
• The stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $27.00 as indicated by market analysts.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH reduced its holdings in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 274,304 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 12,686 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned approximately 0.16% of Archrock worth $7,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Archrock by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,459 shares of the energy company's stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Archrock by 4.7% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Archrock by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 10,133 shares of the energy company's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Archrock by 164.8% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 964 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Archrock by 0.4% in 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 during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Archrock news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $1,029,461.64. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 275,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,757,060.39. This represents a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Sidoti raised shares of Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.00.

Archrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AROC traded up $0.10 on Thursday, reaching $23.26. 361,950 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,391,699. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.08. Archrock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.26 and a fifty-two week high of $30.44. The business's 50-day moving average is $24.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $347.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $342.98 million. Archrock had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 18.31%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Archrock declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, May 5th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to buy 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.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. 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 yield of 3.61%. Archrock's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.41%.

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.