Boston Partners Buys 13,865 Shares of Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Key Points

• Boston Partners increased its stake in Archrock, Inc. by 1.1%, owning approximately 1.31 million shares valued at around $33.31 million.
• Archrock reported a 41.6% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, reaching $383.15 million, and earned $0.39 per share, exceeding expectations.
• The company has declared a dividend increase to $0.21 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.5%, highlighting a strong payout ratio of 63.64%.

Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,310,677 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 13,865 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 0.74% of Archrock worth $33,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Archrock during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,092,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Archrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,241,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Archrock by 186.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,047,346 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $26,068,000 after acquiring an additional 681,160 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Archrock by 84.3% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 919,982 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $24,140,000 after acquiring an additional 420,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Archrock by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,241,032 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $55,779,000 after acquiring an additional 376,564 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AROC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sidoti raised shares of Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Archrock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.40.

Insider Activity at Archrock

In related news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 10,000 shares of Archrock stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $235,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 224,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,292,003.86. The trade was a 4.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Archrock Stock Performance

AROC traded down $0.0450 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.1250. 480,782 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,417,769. Archrock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.38 and a fifty-two week high of $30.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.80. The company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.10.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The energy company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.02. Archrock had a net margin of 17.17% and a return on equity of 18.74%. The firm had revenue of $383.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $366.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Archrock's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.64%.

Archrock announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, May 5th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to repurchase up to 1.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management 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.