Caxton Associates LLP Sells 102,660 Shares of Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP sharply reduced its Archrock stake in Q1, selling 102,660 shares and cutting its position by 59.1% to 71,102 shares valued at about $2.47 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on Archrock, with nine Buy ratings and one Hold; the average analyst target price is $41.71, above the recent trading price of $36.17.
• Archrock raised its quarterly dividend to $0.23 per share from $0.22, implying a 2.5% annualized yield, even as the company reported Q1 earnings below expectations.

Caxton Associates LLP trimmed its position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 59.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,102 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 102,660 shares during the quarter. Caxton Associates LLP's holdings in Archrock were worth $2,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Archrock by 71.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 971 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Archrock in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Archrock during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Archrock during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Archrock by 217.9% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,316 shares of the energy company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the period. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AROC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Archrock from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings cut Archrock from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Archrock from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Archrock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $41.00 price target on Archrock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine equities research 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, Archrock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.71.

Archrock Stock Down 5.8%

Shares of NYSE:AROC opened at $36.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.41. Archrock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.17 and a 52-week high of $42.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.14 and a 200 day moving average of $34.77.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.05). Archrock had a net margin of 21.45% and a return on equity of 22.89%. The firm had revenue of $373.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $378.36 million. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Archrock's payout ratio is 47.83%.

Insider Transactions at Archrock

In other Archrock news, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 90,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total value of $3,306,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 394,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,487,941.38. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $1,260,270.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 277,454 shares in the company, valued at $10,595,968.26. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 158,000 shares of company stock worth $5,907,370. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Archrock

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.

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