Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires 16,084 Shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 20.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 93,524 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 16,084 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.05% of Archrock worth $2,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AROC. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Archrock in the fourth quarter worth $36,241,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Archrock by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,883,949 shares of the energy company's stock worth $221,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,438 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archrock in the fourth quarter worth $17,247,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Archrock by 186.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,047,346 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,068,000 after purchasing an additional 681,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Archrock by 135.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 993,063 shares of the energy company's stock worth $24,717,000 after purchasing an additional 570,680 shares during the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Sidoti raised shares of Archrock to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Archrock Trading Down 3.9%

AROC traded down $0.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $22.44. 1,764,364 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,404,660. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a PE ratio of 19.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50-day moving average is $24.38 and its 200 day moving average is $25.35. Archrock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.26 and a 12 month high of $30.44.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The energy company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $347.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $342.98 million. Archrock had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 18.31%. Equities analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Archrock's payout ratio is currently 64.41%.

Archrock declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, May 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to reacquire up to 1.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $1,029,461.64. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 275,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,757,060.39. This represents a 13.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.