BNP Paribas Financial Markets Reduces Stock Holdings in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its stake in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 39.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 75,117 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 48,979 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Archrock were worth $1,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Archrock by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 38,313 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $954,000 after purchasing an additional 5,665 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Archrock by 124.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 302,610 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $6,125,000 after buying an additional 167,648 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Archrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Archrock by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,358,092 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $58,693,000 after acquiring an additional 34,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Archrock by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 916,945 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $22,823,000 after purchasing an additional 63,650 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on AROC shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Archrock from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Sidoti upgraded Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Archrock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Archrock Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NYSE:AROC traded down $0.76 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.62. 948,424 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,447,120. The stock has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.49. Archrock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.27 and a 52-week high of $30.44.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $347.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $342.98 million. Archrock had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 13.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Archrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.41%.

Archrock announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, May 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to purchase up to 1.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 275,911 shares in the company, valued at $6,757,060.39. This represents a 13.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Archrock Company 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.