Archrock, Inc. $AROC Shares Bought by Hancock Whitney Corp

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in Archrock, Inc. by 139.0% in the first quarter, now owning 22,605 shares worth $593,000.
• Archrock announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.21 per share, up from $0.19, with a dividend yield of 3.3%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Archrock, with price targets ranging mostly from $30.00 to $32.00.

Hancock Whitney Corp grew its stake in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 139.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,605 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,146 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Archrock were worth $593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Archrock by 0.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,951,896 shares of the energy company's stock worth $234,898,000 after acquiring an additional 67,947 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Archrock by 9.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,388,964 shares of the energy company's stock worth $141,406,000 after acquiring an additional 461,940 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Archrock by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,957,444 shares of the energy company's stock worth $48,721,000 after acquiring an additional 75,684 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its position in Archrock by 2.0% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 1,647,222 shares of the energy company's stock worth $43,223,000 after acquiring an additional 32,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Archrock during the first quarter worth about $43,092,000. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archrock Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Archrock stock traded down $0.05 on Friday, reaching $24.76. The company had a trading volume of 370,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,423,909. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $23.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.46. The firm has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.14. Archrock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.23 and a 52-week high of $30.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.81.

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

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This is an increase from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Archrock's payout ratio is currently 63.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $235,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 224,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,292,003.86. This represents a 4.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AROC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Archrock in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Archrock from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report 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 on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Archrock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.00.

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.