BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 48,979 Shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its holdings in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 39.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,117 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 48,979 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Archrock were worth $1,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Archrock by 111.8% during the fourth quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 1,504 shares of the energy company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 14,200 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Archrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Archrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Archrock in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $107,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Archrock by 580.6% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,485 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 3,826 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AROC shares. Sidoti upgraded shares of Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.67.

Insider Activity at Archrock

In other Archrock news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 now owns 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Archrock Price Performance

Shares of Archrock stock traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.80. The company had a trading volume of 931,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,435,997. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.55. Archrock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.27 and a 1-year high of $30.44.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $347.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $342.98 million. Archrock had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 16.24%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Archrock's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.41%.

Archrock announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, May 5th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy company to reacquire up to 1.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.