Bard Associates Inc. Makes New $7.33 Million Investment in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Key Points

• Bard Associates invested approximately $7.33 million in Archrock during the second quarter, purchasing 180,128 shares and making AROC about 1.6% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 95.45% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable: nine analysts rate Archrock a Buy and one rates it Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $42.29.
• Archrock’s latest quarter fell short of expectations, with $0.38 in EPS and $371.24 million in revenue, while year-over-year revenue declined 3.1%. The company nevertheless raised its quarterly dividend to $0.23, or $0.92 annually, for a 2.9% yield.

Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 180,128 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $7,333,000. Archrock comprises about 1.6% of Bard Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Bard Associates Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Archrock as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AROC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Archrock by 15,293.5% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 138,388 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 137,489 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Archrock in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,611,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Archrock by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,685,080 shares of the energy company's stock worth $43,846,000 after purchasing an additional 308,246 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Archrock during the 4th quarter valued at $32,904,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Archrock by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 127,471 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $3,309,000 after buying an additional 36,847 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AROC. Citigroup raised their price target on Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings cut Archrock from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Evercore set a $40.00 target price on Archrock in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Archrock from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Archrock from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.29.

Archrock Price Performance

Shares of Archrock stock opened at $31.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $36.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.75. Archrock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.88 and a 52 week high of $42.23.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.07). Archrock had a return on equity of 22.22% and a net margin of 21.84%.The business had revenue of $371.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $393.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 4th. This is an increase from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Archrock's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.46%.

Archrock Profile

Archrock, Inc is a Houston‐based provider of natural gas compression services and equipment to the oil and gas industry in North America. Founded in 2004, the company supplies both short‐term rentals and long‐term contracts for compression solutions, serving upstream and midstream producers. Archrock's offerings include engineered compression systems, aftermarket parts, maintenance and field services designed to optimize wellhead and pipeline operations.

The company's core business activities focus on the design, manufacture, rental and sale of gas compression equipment.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AROC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source