Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 24,600 Shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. reduced its stake in Archrock by 27.7%, now holding approximately $1.69 million, after selling 24,600 shares in the first quarter.
• Archrock's Board of Directors approved a stock buyback plan worth $50 million, indicating confidence in the stock's value.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous $0.19, with a 3.6% yield.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. decreased its stake in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 27.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,267 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 24,600 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Archrock were worth $1,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AROC. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Archrock during the fourth quarter worth about $36,241,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,883,949 shares of the energy company's stock worth $221,121,000 after buying an additional 1,008,438 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Archrock during the fourth quarter worth about $17,247,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 186.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,047,346 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,068,000 after buying an additional 681,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 135.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 993,063 shares of the energy company's stock worth $24,717,000 after buying an additional 570,680 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Archrock

In other news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of Archrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $1,029,461.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 275,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,757,060.39. The trade was a 13.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Archrock Stock Down 4.1%

AROC stock traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,833,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,411,606. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.20. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.37, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.10. Archrock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.60 and a 52 week high of $30.44.

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. Archrock had a return on equity of 18.31% and a net margin of 16.38%. The company had revenue of $383.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $366.34 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders 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 represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is an increase from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Archrock's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.41%.

Archrock announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.