SG Americas Securities LLC Makes New $522,000 Investment in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 19,883 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Archrock by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 38,313 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $954,000 after purchasing an additional 5,665 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Archrock during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Archrock by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,358,092 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $58,693,000 after purchasing an additional 34,272 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Archrock by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 916,945 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $22,823,000 after purchasing an additional 63,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Archrock by 6,866.0% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 43,050 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 42,432 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AROC shares. Sidoti raised Archrock to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Archrock from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $1,029,461.64. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 275,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,757,060.39. This trade represents a 13.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Archrock Trading Up 1.6%

AROC stock traded up $0.39 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.75. The company had a trading volume of 1,234,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,428,175. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.64. Archrock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.27 and a 12 month high of $30.44. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. Archrock's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.41%.

Archrock announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.