Northern Trust Corp Lowers Stake in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its position in Archrock, Inc. by 4.5%, owning approximately 1.21% of the company with a value of $56.13 million after selling over 101,000 shares.
• Archrock recently reported higher earnings of $0.39 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates and marking a 41.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $383.15 million.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.21 per share, reflecting a boost from the prior dividend and signaling a dividend yield of 3.4%.

Northern Trust Corp decreased its stake in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,139,241 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 101,791 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.21% of Archrock worth $56,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AROC. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Archrock by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 38,161 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Archrock by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 12,761 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Archrock by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 10,133 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Archrock by 164.8% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 964 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Archrock by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 146,819 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $3,853,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.45% of the company's stock.

Archrock Stock Performance

NYSE AROC traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.76. 1,153,692 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,561,737. Archrock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.38 and a 1 year high of $30.44. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $23.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.61. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.10.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The energy company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company's revenue was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 63.64%.

Archrock announced that its board has authorized a share 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 purchase up to 1.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AROC. Sidoti raised Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho upped their price target on Archrock from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective 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. Five 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Insider Activity

In other Archrock news, SVP Eric W. Thode sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 224,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,292,003.86. This represents a 4.26% 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. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

About Archrock

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.