Insider Selling: Archrock (NYSE:AROC) CFO Sells 98,050 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• CFO Doug Aron sold 98,050 shares on March 30 at an average of $34.76 for about $3.41 million, cutting his stake by 16.84% and leaving him with 484,337 shares (≈$16.84 million).
• Archrock recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.69 vs. $0.40) with revenue up 15.5% year‑over‑year, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 (annualized $0.88, ~2.6% yield), and carries a consensus Wall Street rating of Buy with a $39 price target.

Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) CFO Doug Aron sold 98,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.76, for a total value of $3,408,218.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 484,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,835,554.12. This trade represents a 16.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Archrock Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of AROC stock traded up $0.37 on Thursday, hitting $34.50. 254,874 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,646,075. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.87. Archrock, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.12 and a fifty-two week high of $37.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.47 and a 200 day moving average of $28.04.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.29. Archrock had a return on equity of 23.57% and a net margin of 21.63%.The business had revenue of $377.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $378.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. Archrock's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Archrock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Archrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. Archrock's payout ratio is presently 48.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Archrock from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Archrock from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Archrock from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Archrock from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Archrock from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archrock

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Archrock by 3.3% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,077,999 shares of the energy company's stock worth $159,912,000 after purchasing an additional 191,914 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Archrock by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 264,991 shares of the energy company's stock worth $6,972,000 after acquiring an additional 43,872 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Archrock by 55.1% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 121,089 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $3,049,000 after purchasing an additional 43,023 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Archrock by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors now owns 291,534 shares of the energy company's stock worth $7,670,000 after buying an additional 111,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Archrock during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,657,000. 95.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Archrock

Archrock, Inc is a Houston‐based provider of natural gas compression services and equipment to the oil and gas industry in North America. Founded in 2004, the company supplies both short‐term rentals and long‐term contracts for compression solutions, serving upstream and midstream producers. Archrock's offerings include engineered compression systems, aftermarket parts, maintenance and field services designed to optimize wellhead and pipeline operations.

The company's core business activities focus on the design, manufacture, rental and sale of gas compression equipment.

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