Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Stock Position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Archrock, Inc. by 20.3%, bringing its total shares to 667,536 valued at approximately $17.5 million.
• Archrock recently announced a dividend increase to $0.21 per share, up from $0.19, representing a yield of 3.6%.
• A report from Sidoti raised Archrock's stock rating to "hold," with the stock holding a Moderate Buy average rating and a target price of $27.00.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 667,536 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 112,498 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.38% of Archrock worth $17,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AROC. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Archrock during the fourth quarter valued at about $443,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Archrock by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 124,105 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,089,000 after buying an additional 8,807 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Archrock by 135.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 993,063 shares of the energy company's stock worth $24,717,000 after buying an additional 570,680 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Archrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,383,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Archrock during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $242,000. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AROC traded down $0.60 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.00. 1,884,285 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,411,835. The stock has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.10. Archrock, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.60 and a 12-month high of $30.44. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $24.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The energy company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. Archrock had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 18.31%. The company had revenue of $383.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $366.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 41.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Archrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.41%.

Archrock announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, May 5th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy company to buy up to 1.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Sidoti upgraded shares of Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Archrock

In related news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $1,029,461.64. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

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.