First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Grows Position in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Key Points

• First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. significantly increased its stake in Archrock, Inc. by 183.8% during Q2, owning 28,545 shares valued at $709,000 by the end of the reporting period.
• Archrock's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with an EPS of $0.39, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37, and its revenue rose 41.6% year-over-year to $383.15 million.
• Diversified institutional interest is evident as over 95% of Archrock's shares are held by institutional investors, with several raising their positions in the recent quarters.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 183.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,545 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,488 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Archrock were worth $709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 34.4% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 55,528 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,457,000 after buying an additional 14,200 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Archrock by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,030 shares of the energy company's stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Archrock by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,098 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Archrock by 53.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 27,402 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,594 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Archrock in the first quarter valued at about $5,757,000. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AROC. Zacks Research raised Archrock from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Archrock in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Archrock in a report on Friday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Archrock from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.00.

Archrock Price Performance

NYSE:AROC opened at $25.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.37. Archrock, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.73 and a 1-year high of $30.44. The firm has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Archrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.64%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 10,000 shares of the company's 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 owned 224,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,292,003.86. This represents a 4.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jason C. Rebrook purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $24.17 per share, for a total transaction of $241,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 74,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,800,930.87. This represents a 15.50% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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