Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 420,757 Shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 84.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 919,982 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 420,757 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.52% of Archrock worth $24,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Archrock during the fourth quarter worth about $36,241,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Archrock by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,883,949 shares of the energy company's stock worth $221,121,000 after buying an additional 1,008,438 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in Archrock during the fourth quarter worth about $17,247,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Archrock by 186.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,047,346 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,068,000 after buying an additional 681,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Archrock by 135.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 993,063 shares of the energy company's stock worth $24,717,000 after buying an additional 570,680 shares in the last quarter. 95.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Archrock Price Performance

AROC stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $23.32. 1,280,017 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,465,374. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $24.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.42. Archrock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.26 and a 12 month high of $30.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Archrock declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, May 5th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the energy company to reacquire up to 1.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This is a positive change from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Archrock's payout ratio is 64.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Archrock

In other Archrock news, SVP Jason Ingersoll sold 42,036 shares of Archrock stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $1,029,461.64. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 275,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,757,060.39. The trade was a 13.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Sidoti upgraded 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 given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.00.

Archrock Company 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.